Da
by Whoneedsasword
Summary: Kerrianne has been kept away from her father for a very, very long time. That time is about to come to an end. Being reunited with somebody that you had thought gone forever can be a powerful, scary thing. Just a story exploring the thoughts and feelings of Kerrianne as she meets her Da for the first time in a decade. Officially NOT a one-shot anymore!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Kerrianne was always a character that really interested me. She was just such a freaking good, angsty teenager caught up in all of the drama in season 3. I kind of loved her. I have written her before, as part of my longer stories, but this one really focuses on how Kerrianne felt about re-meeting her father for the first time. Enjoy and feel free to review! I welcome feedback! Thanks for reading!**

Kerrianne was just about ready to explode. She was a teenage girl, which meant that she was used to feeling a constant stream of strong, contrasting emotions, but even so, the events of the past month or so had pushed her past her limits, and she was just about at the end of her rope. There were just so many things around her that were changing right now. What was once her normal, acceptable, somewhat oppressive life was now gone, and what it would be replaced with she didn't yet know.

It had started about a month ago, when she had come home from school to find her Ma crying, yet again. This time though, her tears weren't because of Jimmy. After a few tissues and a calming cup of chamomile tea, her Ma came out and told her that her Da, her real Da, had been in some sort of accident. She could remember her Ma taking her hand and looking at her, eyes full of tears, saying, _It doesn't look good, Kerrianne_. Once Kerrianne had calmed down and gone to change out of her school uniform, her Ma had gotten on the phone and gotten ahold of Jimmy, telling him that she needed to make a trip to America.

For as long as she lived, Kerrianne knew that she would remember the massive, knockdown, drag out fight that this phone call, this demand, had caused. She was used to fights. Jimmy and her Ma fought constantly, over every little thing, but this one had been awful. She had turned on her iPod, but even that hadn't drowned out the screaming, hadn't blocked out the horrific threats and taunts and sounds of hands hitting flesh. Kerrianne wished, more than anything, that she was brave enough to just do something, anything, to stop it, but she couldn't, so she just stayed in her room, hidden away like the coward that she knew herself.

All the fighting and yelling and screaming must have been worth it in the end, because her Ma had come up later and told her that she would be staying with Maureen for a few days. Her Ma was headed to California to see her father, and Jimmy would be escorting her, which both relieved and terrified Kerrianne. She had been glad that she wouldn't have to stay here, alone, with Jimmy, but she was terrified about what would happen to her Ma. Kerrianne begged to be allowed to come too, but even as she pleaded, she knew it wouldn't work. Jimmy would never allow her and her Ma both to be that close to her father at the same time. She knew this, but that didn't mean that she didn't hate it. Her father, her _Da_, could very well die, and she shouldn't be stuck at Maureen's.

Kerrianne had no idea what had happened in America or what had finally pushed her Ma over the edge, but from the second she had stepped off the plane, it was clear that there had been some sort of shift. There was a guard, one or more of Jimmy's men, with them at all times now. The guard had taken away her cell phone and computer with no explanation at all, and now she was stuck in the house at all times. The good news was that Jimmy no longer came around anymore, while the bad news was she had absolutely nothing to occupy her time except silent brooding.

In the absence of any sort of digital entertainment, she had taken to watching her Ma. They couldn't have long, drawn out, specific conversations, because of the guard that would report immediately back to Jimmy, but Kerrianne was dying to know what was going on. She noticed her Ma start making subtle changes. She packed and stowed specific sentimental things, such as photo albums and small family heirlooms. She made sure that there just happened to be a bag of clothes for both her and Kerrianne sitting discreetly in the closet. She and Maureen visited more often, and her Ma always sent Maureen home with a few extra things hidden away in her purse.

Kerrianne had no idea what was happening, and she had been afraid to ask, until her Ma came into her room one night, about a week after she returned. She lay next to Kerrianne and whispered to her. Her Ma said that they were leaving, that they were finally getting away from Jimmy. She confided in Kerrianne all about her trip to California and everything that had happened. She told Kerrianne all about her Da, about what it had been like to see him and be with him again. Kerrianne could tell pretty much immediately, just from the way she talked, that her Ma was still in love with him and probably had been all along. Despite the awful circumstances they found themselves in, it did Kerrianne good to see her Ma smile. They had stayed up for hours just talking softly and planning their great escape. Her Ma explained that it would be risky, and they had to wait for just the right moment.

That moment came within a couple of weeks. Their guard had come charging into the house, begging for help. His brother, a boy Kerrianne's own age had, had been injured and those in charge had refused to get him any help. Kerrianne knew this boy. They went to school together, passed each other every day in the halls. Kerrianne had no idea that this boy was apparently an IRA member, willing and expected to die for the cause. This blew Kerrianne's mind. The IRA was an ever present thing in Ireland, but it was her Ma's world, Jimmy's world. They were adults and this was an adult fight. This was not her world.

They had ended up at Maureen's place. Now that they were here, now that they had actually made it out, Kerrianne found that she was scared. More than scared; she was terrified. The violence of the IRA had touched somebody all too close to her. A schoolmate, somebody her own age, had been violently affected by this, and his life would never be the same because of it. On top of that, she and her Ma had just left Jimmy O'Phalen. She may have been young and a little bit naïve, but even she knew that you just didn't leave Jimmy. She knew that he would come for them, and she knew that it wouldn't be pretty when he did. It wasn't that she didn't trust her Ma; she did. She knew that staying would have ended badly, but there was the chance that leaving would end badly, too.

They hadn't stayed at Maureen's long. Father Ashby came to get them and put Kerrianne and her Ma at the rectory. It was small and ugly and cramped and Kerrianne hated it. She couldn't honestly see how this situation was any better than their last one. They still had a guard, she still wasn't allowed to go out or do anything, and her life was still in constant danger. She knew that she was being petty and stupid, but she was miserable and she was pretty sure that she would eventually end up going stir crazy before too long.

She kept herself entertained by eavesdropping and learning as many things as she could about what was happening. She had overheard a lot of conversations in the past few days. People thought that just because she was wearing headphones, then that must mean she was listening to music and couldn't hear them. All Kerrianne did was let them believe this. Some people (like her mother) might have called this being sneaky, but Kerrianne just called it brilliant. It was through this brilliance that she learned that her father was coming. There was something going on with a baby being kidnapped and some sort of fight involving the IRA and the Sons of Anarchy, but Kerrianne didn't care too much about any of that. All she really cared about was that her father was coming to Ireland and she would see him again.

It had been a very long time since she had seen her father; right around ten years, actually. More importantly, though, it had been ten years since_ he_ had seen_ her_. She and her father had been very close before he had gone, 'thick as thieves' her mother liked to say. Back then, she had been barely five years old; just a cute little kid. Everybody liked cute little kids. Now, she was fifteen years old and too tall and she never knew the right thing to say and her ears were way too big. Jimmy often called her a 'snotty teenager'. Would her father agree? One thing was for sure; she wasn't all that cute and she wasn't all that little anymore. What would he think of her now, ten years later? What if he had moved on with his life and didn't have room for an estranged teenage daughter? Would he even want to stick around and get to know her, not as a little girl, but as the person she was now? She really didn't know.

All of these changes had set her on edge. It seemed that she wasn't safe, no matter where she was. She didn't have a home anymore, because if she knew Jimmy, it would have been ransacked and utterly destroyed the second he found out they were gone. She was confident that she had absolutely no friends left now, or at least she wouldn't after word got out about all of this IRA crap. She was bored out of her mind with absolutely nothing to do. She was also simultaneously really nervous, excited, and self-conscious about seeing her father for the first time in ten years.

She was really beginning to wish that she was one of those girls who could just shut off her emotions all together and be calm and collected and confident and charming at all times, like her Ma was, but that was pretty much a hopeless endeavor for her. She tended to internalize everything and stay sullen and quiet until everything just exploded. She had had a panic attack earlier this morning because she couldn't figure out what to wear. She was seeing her Da for the first time in a decade and she had no idea what the right outfit for the occasion was. She had ended up spilling to her Ma about how frustrated and confused and scared and nervous and excited she was, and about how she thought that she just might explode soon. Her mother had really taken her by surprise when she had smiled and hugged her, saying, "That would be the Telford in you, Kerrianne".

Her Ma had done the best she could to calm her and had helped her pick out some clothes. Right now, they were in the back of a cargo van on their way to Maureen's. Her Ma had told her that McGee and the Belfast guys would be there, which meant her cousin Padraic. Everybody was being extra cautious, because apparently nobody was safe right now, so Maureen and Trinny would be there, as well as Cherri, probably. Finally, the Sons of Anarchy from California would be there, which meant her Da and all of his friends. It seemed to her like there would be a lot of people around, which made her that much more nervous. If she had been given the option, she wouldn't choose to have this reunion in front of an audience.

Rather than focusing on her nerves, she sat in the van, trying her very best to recall each and every memory she had of her father. She never really talked about it with anybody, but she remember things about him. She remembered him taping oven mitts to her hands when she had come down with chicken pox at age four, so that she didn't scratch and end up with scars. She remembered playing hide and seek, when he would always pretend he couldn't find her, even though she was giggling like mad. She remembered that he used to make her pancakes on Sunday mornings, and let her watch cartoons before church. She remember how he hadn't even gotten mad at her when she had gotten pink finger paint in his hair, and had, in fact, not bothered to wash it out for a day or so. Her fingers drifted to her left elbow and glanced over the scar that had come from the time he taught her how to slid across the wood floor in her socks. A smile ghosted across her face. Yeah, she remembered her Da.

"Are you okay, my girl?" her Ma asked softly, taking her hand. Kerrianne did the best she could to nod and smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace. Her mother laughed softly and said, "Yeah, me too. Everything will be fine. He's going to be so happy to see you, Kerri. Just wait and see."

It looked like she wouldn't have to wait very long. The van began to slow and finally came to a stop; she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her Ma squeezed her hand, and then a moment later, the doors were opening and light was flooding in and her Ma was climbing out. Kerrianne steeled her nerves and reminded herself that she was fine and she could do this, and then she stepped out of the van.

She didn't notice the overcast skies or the large group gathered around, nor did she notice the guns all over the place. What she did notice, instantly, was her Da jogging towards them, a smile on his face. He stopped in front of her Ma and kissed her, and it struck Kerrianne as odd to see her mother made so damned happy over something so small. Kerrianne couldn't remember the last time he Ma had looked so glad and relieved. It was only a matter of second before her Da's eyes turned and were focused on her. For the first time in ten years, she found herself face to face with her father. _I have his eyes,_ she thought.

He was tall, and she suddenly knew exactly who was to blame for her own height. He had dark brown, almost black, hair that had been turning grey for a long time. There were scars across his face that hadn't been there in her memories, and she knew that these had come from Jimmy; had heard Jimmy brag about it on more than one occasion. He looked older, but then again, so did she. He had obviously changed some, but she could still see him in there. He was still the same man that she remembered.

"Hi, how're you doing?" he asked, and it struck her that he sounded just as anxious as she felt. It somehow made her feel a little bit better.

"Fine," she muttered. She wished that she could think of something more intelligent or impressive to say than _fine_, but it was the best she could come up with. At least she had managed to open her mouth and say something, and all without throwing up.

He was smiling at her like he couldn't really believe what he was seeing, and she thought that was probably a good thing. "Jesus, look at you," he said, his hands sort of gesturing to her slightly.

She smiled at him, because she was all too familiar with that whole awkward, not quite sure what to do with your hands kind of thing. She decided right then and there that she liked him. She was still feeling incredibly strange and out of her element, and now he was moving towards her and, ever so slowly, he was wrapping his arms around her. She wasn't usually a fan of other people touching her. She even shrugged off gestures from her Ma. It wasn't that she didn't like other people, just that years of too long hugs from Jimmy had given her a healthy respect for personal space. She had to remind herself that this was NOT Jimmy hugging her. This was her Da, and he was being so incredibly gentle and she could hear that his heart was racing as fast as hers was and he smelled _exactly_ the same as he had when she was small and he was the center of her world.

Kerrianne found herself wrapping her own arms around his shoulders and inhaling deeply. This was her Da and she was hugging him and goddamn it, she had missed him. She felt her Ma join the hug, and just like that, this family was whole again. The years that they had been apart didn't matter. The fact that they were all in mortal danger didn't matter. All that mattered was that her family was together again. Kerrianne was suddenly aware that she was crying, and she wasn't sure why, because for the first time in a long while, she was certain that she was happy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the next little bit. I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I have no idea how much of often I will update this, nor how far I will take it. I am just kind of going with the flow and letting inspiration strike me. I do LOVE Kerrianne and writing about her is really, really fun. I appreciate all of you for taking the time to read! I appreciate all reviews, so please leave your thoughts! Have a wonderful day!**

Throughout the day, Kerrianne spent a lot of time watching her father. She hoped that she was being discreet and under the radar, but even if she wasn't, it really didn't matter. This was her Da, and she really doubted that he would call her out on it, so she just watched him. She wasn't trying to be obnoxious and creepy, she just wanted to know about him, and this way was just what suited her best.

She had never been particularly talkative or articulate, so sitting down and just starting a long, deep conversation with him was just not going to happen, at least not yet. Instead, she just sat around, pretending to read and study, while watching him out of the corner of her eye. She was really intrigued by what she saw.

After their little reunion hug had ended, her Da had leaned back and smiled at them both, before kissing her on the forehead. He probably meant to hide it, but she saw him wipe at his eyes. Then, he had taken her and her Ma over and introduced them all around, to each and every one of his friends. She noticed the pride and happiness plastered all over his face, and it made her smile. Hearing her Da introduce them as 'my wife and little daughter' made her so happy that she wanted to giggle. Her Da was clearly thrilled and she had literally done nothing at all. It made her unreasonably happy to realize that she had made him so happy by doing nothing but existing.

She had quickly been sent away for a while, just down to the shop to see Trinity. Really, she knew that they were sending her out of hearing range so that they could talk about Jimmy and the IRA and all sorts of other things that she wasn't supposed to know about. She went off without much argument at all, because she knew it would do her no good to argue, and her Ma would just embarrass the shit out of her if she even tried. She saw her Da and saw how his eyes never left her as she walked off, making sure that she was okay each and every second until she disappeared from view. Unlike with Jimmy, his gaze didn't make her feel uncomfortable at all. It made her feel loved.

It was awhile before she made her way back upstairs, but she was starting to get anxious. Whatever information her mother had to give to her Da and the rest of the Sons of Anarchy, it really couldn't take that long. She ignored Michael Casey's warning to stay put and marched up the stairs before opening the door. Michael had spoken up and said it was time to go, and Kerrianne noted the tension on her Da's person and the wistful look he shot at her Ma as she got up and walked away, as well as the relief that settled over him when he found out they were staying, and the fierce determination in his voice when he told her that nobody would ever hurt her.

The majority of her observing took place over that afternoon that they just spent hanging out and doing absolutely nothing. They were stuck inside Maureen Ashby's house and the surrounding courtyard, so there were not really many outstanding opportunities for thrilling family bonding, but she was okay with that. Mostly, they just hung around in the living room and her Ma and Da sat really close together and talked quietly. Kerrianne just pretended to read her book while she listened to bits and pieces of the conversation and just…watched.

She watched her Da and saw how each and every time her Ma got up and moved to go to the loo or get something from her purse or go to the kitchen for some water, his eyes followed her. It wasn't a possessive, creepy stare like Jimmy tended to be a master of. To Kerrianne, it really seemed more protective and disbelieving; almost as if he couldn't fathom how she was here and he wasn't willing to let her out of his sight so easily this time around. When he caught Kerrianne staring, he turned away and blushed, but she thought that it was kind of sweet. If anybody in the world deserved somebody to love her and take care of her, it was her Ma.

She also managed to note how he interacted with his friends, or 'brothers' as he called them. She was a teenage girl, and by definition that meant that she light years away from understanding boys and how they worked, but she thought that the way they talked to each other and dealt with each other was primitive and weird. It was completely clear and obvious that they all loved each other and whatnot, but they all seemed to express it by being terrible and making fun of each other. She just didn't get it. But really, one of them had needed help, and now all of them were here in Ireland to help, so Kerrianne figured that fact must count for something.

She watched and noticed the way her Da seemed unable to stay still. He was always moving in one way of another, whether it be tapping his foot or smoking a cigarette, he just wasn't ever idle for any length of time. Kerrianne found this truly hilarious, and she wished that she had known this about him years ago. She couldn't tell you the number of times her mother had gotten frustrated at her and told her to stop fidgeting and sit still when she was a child. She could have blamed it entirely on him, and she hadn't even known it. She filed her newfound knowledge away for future use.

Yes, her Da was pretty much always moving around, and never seemed content to stay still...except when her Ma was around. When her Ma was around, her Da seemed much more settled, and he was always, always touching her in some way. Whether he had an arm around her, or was resting a hand on her shoulder, or simply sitting close enough for their arms to touch, he was touching her as often as he possibly could. What was more, her Ma noticed it too and seemed completely and totally thrilled by it. Kerrianne got the feeling that if she hadn't been in the room, there would be a lot more than touching happening right now, but she tried her best not to dwell on that thought because the idea of her parents reconnecting in that particular way made her a little bit sick.

Her Da did talk to her a little bit, and she definitely appreciated his efforts. He was probably just as nervous and ill at ease as she was, but unlike her, he didn't have the added awkwardness of being a teenage girl to contend with. He asked her questions every now and then, and it made it easier for her, because it allowed her the opportunity to ask him questions in return. It might not be the easiest way to get to know each other, but she still learned some things about him. Apparently, he liked to read and was once a decent boxer, though he claimed he was too old now. He told her that his middle name was Gideon and that he had been born in July. She smiled about that, because her birthday was in July, too.

They spent a few hours mostly alone, just the three of them, but eventually everybody started piling in for dinner and they all sat at the table, where the meal was served. It was a massive gathering, full of her family and the guys from California and the Belfast guys, including her cousin Paddy, who made faces at her from across the table. Maureen and Trinity and Cherry were also there, and that made her happy, because they needed all the females they could get with this particular group. The noise and chatter in the room allowed her to be mostly quiet and go unnoticed, though her Da did occasionally lean over and tell her a thing or two about whoever happened to be speaking; usually completely inane facts designed to make her laugh. It worked.

The dinner eventually ended, and while her Ma and Da were helping to clean up, she snuck off to hang out with Trinny. She also got to meet one of her Da's friends who called himself Juice. He had a really weird haircut and tattoos on his head, but he seemed nice enough, and he really seemed to like her Da very much, so she figured that it was okay if she spent time around this guy. Mostly, she just talked to Trinity, whom she had known for forever, and made a smart assed remark here and there. It was nice to be around people relatively close to her own age again. It made her feel like maybe she still had a friend left in the world after all.

Before she knew it, though, her Ma came looking for her and told her that it was time to go. Kerrianne managed to note that her Ma's hair was sufficiently mused and her lipstick was just smudged enough for her to know that her parents had probably been hiding in some dark corner making out for the past half hour or so. Kerrianne was relieved to see that at least her Da had the good sense to make sure his own face was clean of lip gloss.

Kerrianne wasn't exactly in a hurry to get back to the tiny, cramped rectory. For the first time in weeks and weeks, she had actually had a pretty good day and wasn't very eager for it to end. She complained loudly about having to leave for a while; long enough to make her Ma narrow her eyes. Kerrianne quickly gave up the fight and gathered her stuff together. Her Da tried his best to smooth things over. He pulled her aside and promised her that they could come back soon. She was still pretty annoyed, but she definitely appreciated his efforts.

They all piled into the back of the bulky cargo van to make their way across town to the rectory. Apart from her and her parents, her cousin Paddy, the tall bearded guy Opie, and the blonde one named Jax were there. Trinity came as well. Kerrianne wasn't sure why, but she would bet good money that it had something to do with a raging crush on one of the men. It was crowded in the van, and everybody was quiet. She could tell that both her Ma and her Da were sad to be parting, and she could definitely relate to that. Things were dangerous around here right now, and no matter what her Da said, she wasn't sure when they would see him again.

She basically ignored everybody and sat in the back, worrying and brooding, until she heard her Da speak up and say something about them coming to California with him. Her Da was pretty great overall, and of course she was glad that he seemed to be back in her life, but there was no way in hell she could move to California. She was an Irish girl and Ireland was her home; had been since the day she was born. As much as she loved her Da, she had lost her house and her friends and almost everything familiar to her in one fell swoop. She wasn't about to lose Ireland as well.

Still, the look of hurt that crossed her Da's face when she flat out refused struck her. She didn't want to hurt him, not after he had been through so much and come all this way and was being incredibly nice to her. She knew damned well that she was being a brat. Currently, she was the epitome of everything stereotypically wrong with teenage girls. She felt awful, but she just couldn't happily agree to leaving her home country and settling in someplace a million miles away without a second though. It didn't mean that she didn't love him, though.

She saw her parents exchanging a look that she couldn't even begin to understand. She owed her Da an apology, or at the very least, an explanation. She just wasn't ready to consider more change right this very moment. Maybe they could go visit him for Christmas, or maybe this summer, if Jimmy hadn't killed them all by then. And of course, he could come visit them too. She was preparing herself to tell him that, to promise him that she didn't want to be rid of him and that they would see each other all the time. Really, she would say whatever she needed to say to get that look off of his face. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words were cut off abruptly by a yell, and then a burst of gunfire.

Of course a relatively amazing day would end this way. This was her life, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! Here is the next chapter! I took a little creative license here, please forgive me! Thanks for reading, and I would love it if you guys would review and let me know what you thought. I am not sure when the next part will be up, but I will work on it. Thanks again! **

The shooting continued for about a minute, and Kerrianne was positive that she had never been more afraid in her entire life. She was bent at a very awkward angle and her Ma was right next to her, and she couldn't have moved, even if she wanted to, because her Da was covering both her and her Ma with his own body. It was loud, so loud, and she could smell the distinct odor of gunfire and her head was spinning and she couldn't even think straight enough to know whether or not she had been shot.

Just like that, the shooting ended. The bullets just stopped, as quickly as they started, and Kerrianne could hear car tires screech and speed away. It seemed as if they were all safe, and Kerrianne moved to sit up, but she found that she couldn't quite yet. Her Da was still over her, still pinning her down, and she couldn't move yet. Her ears were still ringing with the sounds of the shots, and the way she was twisted down was actually beginning to hurt, but at least now she could tell that she hadn't been shot.

"Filip," she heard her Ma say. "Filip they're gone."

"Aye," her Da muttered, before carefully moving off of them and sitting up. He turned towards her Ma and looked her over, silently asking if she was alright. He must have been satisfied with the nod and tight smile, he got, because he immediately looked over at her. "Kerri? Are you okay?"

She nodded in response, and she heard him ask Paddy and Opie if they were good, and thankfully they were. They had all somehow managed to survive being shot up on the street, and she couldn't understand how. She was beginning to panic, and once again, her senses seemed to be failing her. Her Ma was saying something to her, or at least her mouth was moving, but Kerrianne couldn't focus. Her eyes were darting around, from the bullet holes in the side of the van, to the glass all over the place, to the blood smeared across the seat.

"Blood," she whispered, and all the voices around her stopped. "There's blood. Where did it come from? Who is bleeding?"

They all looked around frantically for a moment, not a single one of them copping to the blood. Kerrianne was looking all over the place, trying to figure out who might have gotten shot, but she couldn't put it all together. Everybody was moving now, climbing out of the bullet riddled van, but Kerrianne couldn't bring herself to move.

"Kerri, come on," her Da was right in front of her now, taking her hand. "Let's get out, yeah?"

She finally turned and looked at him. Worry was written all over his face and it almost made her smile to see his concern over her wellbeing, but the idea of a smile instantly disappeared when she saw the blood staining his shirt. It had been his blood all over the seat. He had been shot. Her Da, who she had literally just gotten back, had been shot trying to protect her.

"You…you're…it's…" she started several times, but couldn't seem to find words. Everybody had stopped what they were doing and they were staring at her now, but for the first time she really didn't care. Let them look; it was him she was worried about. "You got shot. You're bleeding."

That set everybody in motion again. All at once, they were looking at him instead of her, but he was just gazing at her, shaking his head as if he was trying to reassure her. She was not ready to be assured yet, though. She just sat still with a look of horror on her face.

"Filip! Jesus, Filip, did you get shot? Are you okay?" her Ma sounded just as frantic as she felt, and Kerrianne was glad that her Ma was asking all of the questions she herself wanted to ask.

"No, no I am okay," he insisted, finally turning away from Kerrianne and focusing on her Ma for a moment, long enough to put an arm around her just to assure her that he was fine. "It's just a graze, I promise. No actual holes. I'm alright."

Her Ma was looking relieved and worried at exactly the same time, and once again, Kerrianne envied her ability to simultaneously feel a thousand different things at once. Kerrianne was currently having trouble containing herself, and she wasn't sure what to do. They had just been the targets or an excessive drive by, her ears were still ringing, and her Da had just been shot or grazed or whatever. It was too much. Everybody seemed sufficiently occupied; Opie and Paddy had gone to be lookouts and see if they could figure out which direction the other car went, Jax and Trinity were each ensuring that the other was okay, and her parents were carrying on a completely silent conversation using only their eyes. With no gazes falling on her, Kerrianne finally succumbed and did the only thing that made any sense to her. She burst into tears.

Her Da was quick to her aid, putting a soothing arm around her and telling her that everything was fine, but that was definitely a lie. They were stranded in the middle of a dark Belfast street and they had just been shot all to hell and he was bleeding from the shoulder, so she knew for sure that they were definitely not alright. All the same, she appreciated his efforts. He shot a pleading look at her Ma, and she came to assist in the soothing process.

Opie and Paddy finally came back after a moment, with absolutely no information. Paddy was quick to look to her Da and ask, "What do we do?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before jumping right into command mode. "Fi, give me your phone," he took the offered phone and tossed it to Paddy. "Call the Caseys. They need to get here, now. Trinity, call McGee and let them know what'd going on. They need to get here, too. Jax, Op, keep your guns hidden, but easily accessible, and keep your eyes open. Try to figure out an escape plan if we get any unwanted company. They might be back."

Everybody set about their assigned task, and her Da turned his attention back to her. She was still a crying mess, and she didn't know what was about to happen. Would he be mad? Would he tell her to stop being a baby? Would he yell at her?

No. All he did was dig out a handkerchief from his pocket and hand it to her. The way she figured, it really should have been pressed against the wound on his arm, but she wasn't going to point that out to him, so she took it and dried her face, trying to take deep, steady breaths. He put a hand on either side of her face and gently kissed her forehead. "Kerri girl, I need you to calm down and stop crying, alright? Everybody is alive and well, and we are going to get out of here real soon, okay?"

"But you're bleeding," she protested, pointing out the obvious.

"I've bled before and will probably bleed again before my time is up. It really is just a scrape and won't require more than a band-aid. It's not worth your tears, Darlin," he insisted gently, putting his arm around the shoulder not currently occupied by her Ma's arm. It felt much easier to be calm and not cry when she was being held by both of her parents.

"It could have been so much worse," she whispered looking up at him. She still hadn't gotten used to seeing her own eyes look back at her. "We could have died."

"But it wasn't, and we weren't," he told her with a simple shrug of his shoulders. She stared at him, and right then, she realized something.

"You protected me in there," she nodded to the van. "I didn't know what was happening, and then you pushed me down and you covered me, and Ma too, and I couldn't move. It could have been me that got shot," she saw him shudder at that, "but it wasn't. You…protected me."

He looked at her strangely for a moment, almost like he couldn't understand what she was saying. Kerrianne was almost positive that she was speaking English and she wasn't really crying anymore, so she wasn't exactly sure what the problem was. Finally, he just shook his head and gave her a small smile. "It's my job, Kerrianne. I'm your Da; of course I protected you. I'll always do anything I can to keep you safe; I hope you know that. I love you, kid."

She was stunned. Kerrianne knew that all parents loved their children. It was supposed to be just a natural thing that was automatic. In all these years she had spent around Jimmy, listening to him claim to be her father, pretending like she was okay with that, never even once had he told her that he loved her. She understood now that he was pretty much a sociopath, incapable of loving anybody, but still, it had bothered her to grow up never hearing it. Now, here was her Da, who she had literally know for a matter of hours, and he had already told her and showed her more than once that she was so very loved.

She couldn't think of exactly what she could say to him; didn't know how to tell him that she appreciated him loving her enough to be willing to take a bullet for her. Luckily, right then, reinforcements arrived saving her the trouble of stringing the words together. Her Da, along with the rest of the men present, quickly had guns out and pointed at the approaching vehicles, all too aware of the still looming danger. As it turned out, it was Father Ashby, the Casey brother, followed by some of the Sons. Kerrianne breathed a sigh of relief.

"Trinity, stay with Kerrianne for a moment," her Ma commanded as her parents and the rest of the guys walked off. They held a short conference with the new arrivals, presumably about what the hell had just happened and what they would do now. She and Trinny could not hear a single word of the exchange, but it was not for lack of trying. Before long, the little group disbanded and her parents walked back towards her. She couldn't but notice that her Da looked anything but happy, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

"Come on, Love," her Ma smiled. "We are going to head back to the rectory with Father Ashby. We'll be safe there. Trinity, your Ma is worried. They'll take you back to her."

Trinity nodded and grabbed her purse before heading away, but Kerrianne didn't move a muscle. It seemed like they had forgotten to explain one key component of this little plan. Her parents looked back at her, confused as to why she wasn't following along with them.

"What about you?" she asked. "You're not coming to the rectory?"

"I need to head back with the guys for now, Sweetheart. We have some things to figure out," he started to explain.

"If you're not going, then I'm not going!" she insisted, well aware that she was being stubborn. She couldn't help it. They had all just very nearly died; in fact, if it weren't for her Da, they would be dead. She didn't want him to go.

Her parents shared a look, and Kerrianne was almost certain that her Ma was ready to scream at her. Luckily, her Da spoke up first.

"Look, Kerri," he said, taking her hand. "I don't want to leave you, either, but I have to. I promise, I will be back as soon as I can. You will be safe at the rectory, and I will come as soon as I am able, okay?"

It wasn't okay, not at all. She might be safe and sound at the rectory, but her Da would be out here, in a world with guns and drive bys and Jimmy and all sorts of other dangers. She didn't want to be okay with this, but she didn't really have much of a choice, so she nodded and hoped to God that he would be fine. He gave her a smile and hugged her tightly. She didn't hesitate even a little before hugging him back.

After letting her go, he walked them both over to the waiting car. He kissed the top of her head and opened the door for her. She saw him kiss her Ma soundly and whisper something in her ear before letting her go, too. Kerrianne wondered what he might have said, but didn't spend much time contemplating it. She didn't know a thing about her parent's relationship and really, it was not any of her business what her Da might have said. Her Ma joined her in the car, and within minutes, they were being hurried away.

Kerrianne wasn't sure when it had happened, but she was crying again, and even she wasn't sure exactly why. Her Ma reached over and took her hand, squeezing it tightly. "It will be alright, baby. There's no reason to cry. We are safe and as long as they say all together, then he will be safe, too. He loves you so, so much."

Kerrianne actually smirked at her Ma. "I think you mean 'us', Ma. He loves us so much."

Her Ma laughed lightly. "Okay then, us. We'll see him soon, Kerrianne. He promised you, and your Da doesn't break promises."

Kerrianne just nodded, her mind already off. Something had become very obvious to her today, and she wasn't exactly sure what to do about it. This man, her Da, had made it very clear to her that he loved her. The thing that she really had come as a surprise to her was just how much she loved him, too. She had just met him again today, and he had just saved her life. She already couldn't imagine what she would do without him. She looked at the only person in the entire world who could possibly understand what she was feeling right now.

"Ma?" she spoke up up quietly after a minute or two had passed. Her Ma looked at her immediately. "I love him, too."

Her Ma smiled knowingly. "I know you do, Baby. It's kind of impossible to not love him, really. You always have. Maybe you should try telling him that, instead of me."

Kerrianne chose not to contemplate that idea right then. "How can I love somebody who is practically a stranger? I don't know anything about him, Ma."

"That's going to change," her Ma insisted, right away. "Because lucky for you, I know a lot about him. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just as soon as we get back."

Kerrianne squeezed her Ma's hand, finding herself suddenly very eager to get back to the ugly old rectory.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi friends! Here is the next chapter of Da. I apologize for the delay in posting. Life has been insane lately and I am kind of trying to take this story slowly, as it comes. Anyway, this is just a sort of mother/daughter talk, and it is a history lesson for Kerrianne. I hope that you all enjoy reading, and ****_please _****let me know what you think. Thanks so much!**

The ride back to the rectory was mostly quiet. Her Ma sat next to her in the back seat, still holding her hand tightly. Normally, Kerrianne would shrug off the motherly affection, but she was grateful for it tonight. She was still anxious, still worried about her Da, and still a bit shaken up from being nearly shot to death. She supposed that it would be awhile before she was completely recovered from that trauma. She had a strange feeling that she wouldn't exactly be sleeping very well tonight.

The first thing she did upon arriving back at the rectory was call dibs on the shower. Her mother really didn't seem to care all that much; she was too busy informing Sean and Michael Casey that they would NOT be staying inside the actual rectory. Kerrianne hoped that this was a fight her Ma would win. Sean and Michael were there to protect them, but Kerrianne wasn't all that eager to share the small rectory with two scary, strange men. By the time she made her way towards the shower, the Caseys were standing there, silently brooding, while her Ma was threatening to call Father Ashby, her Da, and the Pope himself if they didn't leave immediately.

The noise of the shower drowned out her mother's screeching, and Kerrianne allowed herself to finally relax. The water was barely hot, and the shower was by no means luxurious, but it was exactly what she needed. Kerrianne allowed the lukewarm water and lilac scented soap to wash away the worry, stress, and tension from the day. They may have been stuck in the rectory, but Kerrianne knew for sure that they were safe here. Her Ma was with her, and her Da had said he would come as soon as he could. She really, really was okay. As awesome and shitty as this day had been, at least she could take comfort in the fact that it was almost over.

She made her way back to her room and pulled out clean clothes from her bag. As she pulled out her pink pajama pants and t-shirt, she briefly wondered if she should put on something better or nicer, something that was not an absolutely ancient set of pajamas. Kerrianne entertained this thought for roughly two seconds before rolling her eyes and getting dressed. Her Da had shielded her from gunfire and then comforted her while she sobbed hysterically less than an hour ago; she really doubted that he would make fun of her pajamas.

She quickly brushed her hair and grabbed a blanket, before making her way out towards the living room. She passed her Ma in the kitchen, and was happy to see that she was making tea for the both of them. A strong, hot cup of tea would do wonders for her right now.

"You save me any hot water, my girl?" her Ma asked with a warm smile.

"Nah, sorry Ma," Kerrianne replied. "Where's the goon squad?"

"Outside where they belong," came her triumphant answer. "They'll be there all night. We're safe in here."

"Yeah, that's good," Kerrianne smiled. "Thanks for making them leave. I am sure that they mean well, but the idea of the Casey brothers watching me sleep kind of creeps me out."

Her Ma laughed at that. "I know what you mean. They are a bit unsettling, aren't they? I am going to go get changed. Take the tea into the living room, if you don't mind. I figured that a cup of tea could keep us company while we wait for Da."

Kerrianne did what her mother asked, and grabbed some store bought cookies from the pantry, for good measure. They were two girls who had just had quite an eventful day; chocolate couldn't hurt the situation. She claimed her seat on the couch and picked up the cup of tea that contained milk, taking a sip even though she knew it was still too hot to drink. She could never help herself. Her Ma made great tea, and she could never make herself wait until it was cool enough to drink.

She went ahead and started on the cookies while she waited on her Ma. There was, unfortunately, no television in the rectory, so she soon found herself quite bored. Kerrianne spotted her Ma's bag on the table, and jumped on the opportunity to rifle through it, hopeful that there would be a book or something within. She didn't find any torrid romance novels in the bag, but she did find a couple of old photo albums. She bypassed her own baby album, and instead pulled out the other one. It was a simple album, covered in soft brown leather, and Kerrianne thought it was kind of curious, because she had never seen this particular album before.

She took this album and settled on the couch, eager to crack it open. When she did, she understood immediately why she had never seen it before. These really weren't the sort of photos Jimmy would have tolerated her Ma displaying around the house. On the first page, there was a small snapshot of a young, curly haired black girl and an equally young boy with messy dark hair and big brown eyes that she recognized instantly. The girl's head was on the boys shoulder, and their hands were clasped together. The boy had a huge smile decorating his face, matched only by the one on the girl's face. These were her parents.

But at the same time, they were not her parents; they were just kids. These two people were young, her age even, and they looked light and completely carefree. There were no scars on her father's face and no weight on her mother's shoulders and they were both grinning like they didn't have a care in the world. It sort of bothered her to realize that, in her own fifteen years, she had never even once seen her mother look as happy as she did in this picture.

"You couldn't wait for me, then?" Kerrianne heard her Ma's voice speak up from behind her.

"I…I was just looking for a book to read while I waited, but I found this instead," Kerrianne explained, her eyes never leaving the picture. "That's you and Da."

"It is," her Ma replied. "That was nearly thirty years ago. Look how young we were. I think we were fourteen or fifteen in that picture."

"You have known Da since you were my age?" Kerrianne asked, surprised. She had no idea that they had been together that long. Really, she had no idea about anything that had to do with her parents.

"Oh yes," her Ma came to sit beside her, picking up her own cup of tea. "He moved to Belfast in September, right after school started. He was the new kid, an outsider who nobody trusted, and I was the black girl who nobody wanted to talk to. What a pair we made!"

"How'd you meet?" Kerrianne immediately asked, instantly pulled in by the story.

"Well, I knew of him before I actually knew him. He was the first new kid we had gotten in years, so the rumors were flying within minutes of him arriving," her Ma reminisced. "I actually got to put a face to the name on his second day. I ran into him in the dean's office. He was in trouble and was sitting outside the office looking angry and more alone than I have ever seen anybody look. I could honestly relate, so I took a chance and talked to him. He was…really nice to me. He actually wanted to talk to me, and he was friendly, and so very handsome. I was pretty much instantly smitten."

Kerrianne grinned, "Making the first move! That's pretty bold, Ma."

"Hush, you," her Ma teased. "It wasn't like that. We were just friends, at first. At least for a month or so, until he worked up the nerve to kiss me. And yes, it was him who kissed me, so HE made the first move!"

Kerrianne laughed at her Ma, before turning the page, where she found more of the same. The entire album was full of her parents. There were pictures of the two of them at school, at various events, at confirmation, at graduation. She watched the two of them slowly grow older through these pictures. As they looked, her Ma told her stories. She learned about their first fight and how they had broken up for three days and how her Ma had been too miserable to function. She learned all about how her Da's parents really hadn't liked her Ma very much, but he hadn't cared at all and had went and fallen in love with her anyway. She heard about her Da's mangy dog, and she now knew that the first time her Ma had ever seen him cry was the day that dog had died. She listened as her Ma recounted the worry and fear she had felt when her Da had joined the Royal Army, and the relief she had felt when he had finally came home.

There were a thousand different stories to be told, and Kerrianne knew that she had only heard a fraction of them. They had finally gotten to the wedding pictures, and her Ma had finished telling her about when her Da proposed. "The poor boy actually thought that I might say no! Oh, Kerrianne. It was perfect. It was spontaneous and completely off the cuff. He was tripping over his own words and he was absolutely soaking wet and it was just completely right."

Kerrianne grinned, "You guys were so happy."

"Aye, we were. There is nobody in the world quite like him, Kerrianne. He stole my heart when we were just kids, and he hasn't given it back yet," her Ma admitted, softly.

Kerrianne heard the twinge of sadness and vulnerability in her Ma's voice, but chose not to call her on it. Instead, she asked one of the many questions she had been dying to know the answer to. "If you two were so happy, and so in love, what happened, Ma? Why did he leave? How did he end up by himself in California while we were here, with Jimmy?"

This was sort of a big deal. She didn't voice it, but Kerrianne had always feared that she was the cause of all this; that her tiny, four year old self had somehow been responsible for completely derailing her parents' once happy marriage.

"Oh, my girl. It's really complicated. We were having some trouble, trouble that had nothing to do with you. Something bad happened, and we weren't talking about it and we weren't dealing with it. We would have figured it out eventually, I'm sure, but then…Jimmy happened.," her Ma explained. Kerrianne noticed how she skirted around the issue of what actually happened, but she chose not to push any farther.

"What did Jimmy do?" Kerrianne couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Nothing really, at first. He was very…sneaky about everything. He just started planting little seeds of disquiet and doubt in my head, and your Da's too, I'm sure. He made sure to casually point out your Da's flaws and shortcomings, all for the sake of friendship, of course. He would ask if Da always came home when he was supposed to and he would make sure to point out each and every time your Da even spoke to another woman. He made me question your Da's love for me, and I am ashamed of that to this very day. Eventually, your Da just didn't come home one day. I kept thinking that he was just off somewhere, figuring things out. But days turned in to a week and then a month and he never came back. I thought he had left me, left us both, and I was just broken. Jimmy had been such a good friend to me, and I started spending more and more time around him, which is exactly as he intended. Then one day, we weren't just friends anymore. Eventually, it just made sense for us to be together," her Ma said.

"But Da didn't just leave, did he?" Kerrianne whispered.

"Of course he didn't. I know that now," her Ma insisted. "I didn't find out what really happened for more than a year. Jimmy had been building up a case with the Army bosses, based mostly on complete lies, and once he got the go ahead, they jumped your Da. There were five of them, against the one of him; he didn't stand a chance. They beat him and left him for dead. It's a miracle that he survived, really. He somehow got to SAMBEL, and they got him to California, where he would be safe. I was completely clueless as to what had happened, and by the time I pieced it together, it would have been too dangerous for the both of us to leave, and I had no idea where he was. Da found out through the grapevine that I was with Jimmy and thought that I had been involved from the beginning. He was furious. It was years and years before the anger lifted enough for him to see what had truly happened, but even then, we had both changed so very much. The situation was just not something that we could overcome."

Kerrianne thought for a moment, processing the entire story. There were so many questions she had, so many things that she wanted to say. She chose the most important one, "But you did."

"What?" her Ma questioned, coming back down from the cloud of memories.

"But you did overcome it. You love him, I know you do, and he loves you so, so much. He's here and we are here and Jimmy isn't. That sounds like a decent start to overcoming the situation," Kerrianne pointed out.

"Maybe you're right," her Ma smiled. "But that's not for you to worry about. Let the two of us deal with the mess we made, yeah?"

Kerrianne opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a massive yawn. "I thought tea was supposed to make me less sleepy, not more."

"Oh it would, except I may have doctored yours a bit," her Ma admitted with a grin. "You need your sleep, little girl. Why don't you go to bed? I will send your Da in to say goodnight, just as soon as he gets here, and you will see him tomorrow."

She wanted to be furious at her mother, but the 'doctored' tea seemed to be dulling her senses. Besides, after the stories that she just heard, she reasoned that her parents probably had some things that they wanted to discuss on their own. She nodded sleepily. "Yeah, okay. I guess that's fine. Just make sure he comes to see me when he gets here."

"I will," her Ma promised.

Kerrianne got up, gathering her blanket and yet another cookie. "Thanks for telling me everything Ma. I know that some of that stuff is hard to talk about, but I really liked hearing it."

"It's your history too, Kerrianne. And anytime you want to talk, I will be here. I love you, little girl," her Ma assured her.

Kerrianne headed off to bed, with her warm blanket, secure in the knowledge that she came from love and she was loved even now. That would be enough to ensure that her dreams tonight would be good ones.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next bit, hope that you enjoy it! Not much to say tonight...it's kind of been an absolute week from hell. Some reviews might make it better though. Just sayin.**

When Kerrianne opened her eyes, she was met with nothing but blackness. She was, for just a split second, struck by the blind terror that was generally associated with having no idea where you were. It only took a moment for her to remember that she had not, in fact, been kidnapped and stolen away in a dark box, but instead she was safe inside the rectory, in a small, uncomfortable bed with a cold draft keeping her hidden deep inside the blankets.

She felt around in the darkness until she found her iPod. The light up display informed her that is was currently 2:47 AM, and Kerrianne really had to wonder exactly what her Ma had done to doctor the tea last night. Her eyes felt heavy, and they really just wanted to be closed. She wished that she could just roll over and fall back asleep, but her throat was as dry as a bone and she really, really had to pee, so instead, she heaved herself up. Using her iPod as a flashlight she managed to climb out of bed and stumble her way into the hall.

She flicked on the bathroom light, used the toilet, and vowed for about the thousandth time that she would one day invent a heated toilet seat. She stood in front of the sink, waiting for the water to get a little bit warm, and stared at herself in the mirror. She hadn't allowed her hair to dry all the way before she went to bed, which ensured that it was a tangled mess. Her eyes were puffy and heavy with sleep. Finally, she was pretty sure that she was getting a zit on her forehead. Wonderful.

After washing her hands, Kerrianne turned out the light, plunging herself back into darkness, and started off towards the kitchen. She managed to stumble over the hall rug and she very nearly ran into a wall. She was proud of herself for not cursing up a storm, but she knew there would likely be bruises in the morning, and so she vowed to spill something on the rug; something that would stain. Within the space of a few steps, she found herself standing outside her Ma's bedroom door, where she paused for a moment.

Kerrianne wasn't sure why, but she really, really wanted to open the door. She knew that she shouldn't; after all, her Da was supposed to be here and God only knew what might possibly greet her eyes. Still, though, she wanted to make sure her Ma was okay, and more than that, she wanted to see that her Da had fulfilled his promise. She was overcome by an overwhelming urge to see with her very own eyes that her family was together and safe, under one roof.

She listened carefully for a minute, but she couldn't hear anything coming from the bedroom. There was no snoring, but there were also no sounds of fighting or moans of ecstasy, so she figured that she might be safe in opening the bedroom door, just to check. She took a deep breath and slowly, silently twisted the door knob. She peeked into the room and gave her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness before she glanced over at the bed, where she saw…

Her Ma. Her Ma was curled on her side, facing the side wall, her head resting ever so gently on the pillow, lost in dreams. Glancing around the room, Kerrianne saw a now cold cup of tea on the end table, her Ma's slippers on the floor by the bed, a quilt covering her body, and a clock glowing softly on top of the dressed. What Kerrianne did not see, anywhere in the room, was her Da. Not even a trace of him could be found.

Kerrianne quickly swallowed the surge of emotion she felt at this revelation and backed out of the room, softly shutting the door behind her. She walked the rest of the way down the hall and into the kitchen like a robot. She didn't notice the cold or the silence anymore; she was far, far too distracted by something brand new. She was disappointed.

Her Da had promised that he would be here tonight. He had held her tightly and said that he loved her and that he would come here and be with them and keep them safe, and he was nowhere to be found. He was disappointed in him, but she was much more disappointed in herself, because she had believed him. He had told her that he would be there, and she hadn't even questioned it, hadn't even stopped to consider that he might be just as full of shit as every other man she had ever met. If he hadn't meant what he said about coming and being with them tonight, how could she be sure he had meant anything he said to her yesterday?

She pulled a clean glass out of the cupboard and filled it with cold water from the tap, before drinking it in five gulps. The frigid water hitting her dry, parched throat almost burned, but it was a sensation she welcomed, because it detracted from all the other things she was feeling right now. A part of her really, really wanted to cry, because she had foolishly believed, as all girls do, that her Da wouldn't let her down, but in less than a day, he had dashed that hope. She wouldn't allow tears, though. She had already cried enough for one day, and she was done.

Kerrianne turned on the tap to refill her water glass, but was struck by a different idea. She opened the silver wear drawer and reached towards the back, pushing aside a hand towel and grasping the flask that her Ma had hidden there days ago. She poured a small measure of whatever was inside into her glass instead, and took a tiny sip. She very nearly choked and spit it back up, but her Irish side won over and she fought it down, and then poured the rest of the amber liquid down her throat. It burned and it tasted like flames and dizziness, but she kind of liked it, so she poured a little more in her glass. This was how women dealt when men of all kinds disappointed them, wasn't it? So what if she was started a little young. The way she figured, she was a sure fire candidate for Daddy issues anyway.

She was about to throw back her second drink and she heard a noise coming from near the door. Kerrianne wasn't stupid. She knew damned well that they were for protection and safety from some very dangerous people, and if there was somebody making noise at the door to the rectory at three in the goddamned morning, it probably didn't mean anything good for her and her Ma, especially when the noise sounded a whole hell of a lot like footsteps. She should have been running or hiding or calling for help or waking her Ma, but for a half of a second, she just froze and wished for her Da, who was not fucking here.

When her better senses finally kicked in, she slid her hand back into the silver wear drawer and pulled out an old knife that had clearly seen better days. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing and would serve her better than her wits and her fingers nails, which were the only other things she currently had in her possession. She squared her shoulders and turned to face the door, preparing herself for a fight. She heard whatever monster that was on the other side fiddle with the door knob and then the door swung open.

She suddenly found herself face to face with, not a monster or a thug or a hit man of some sort, but instead, her Da. He was frozen in the door way, wrapped in his black hooded sweatshirt, staring wide eyed at her brandishing a steak knife at him. Kerrianne really wasn't sure who was more surprised, her or him.

"Kerrianne, lovely, what the hell are you doing?" her whispered to her, all too well aware that she hadn't yet lowered the cutlery.

"I heard noises at the door and I didn't know who it was," she explained shortly, not moving a muscle.

"And you thought that you would fight off your would be attacker with a kitchen knife?" he asked, with a half-smile on his face.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" she asked haughtily. "I thought it was just me and Ma here. I woke up and you weren't around. How was I supposed to know that you would be lurking around outside the door?"

"Ah," he said, finally understanding that there was an issue. "I have been here for a while, Darlin. I just went outside to have a smoke. Didn't want your Ma to yell at me for lighting up in the rectory."

"Oh," Kerrianne said, finally dropping her guard. She felt incredibly dumb. "Oh. I just didn't see you and I thought…"

"You thought I didn't come," he finished for her.

"Yeah," she nodded, setting the knife down. "I'm sorry. It's just…I shouldn't have…I didn't mean…"

"Hey, hey, hey," he cut her off quickly, sliding an arm around her and squeezing tightly. "It's okay. There's no need to worry. I'm here, and Ma's here, and you're here, and that's all that really matters."

"Right," Kerrianne agreed, smiling at him. She had completely misjudged him. She had been so quick to jump to conclusions, and they had been the wrong conclusions. She had never been happier to be wrong in her life. "Still, I am sorry that I nearly attacked you with a dull steak knife."

He laughed at that. "No hard feelings. Though for future reference, there is a gun hidden in the pantry, inside an old box of wheat germ. That might be a better bet next time."

"I'll remember that," she said, rolling her eyes.

His eyes fell to the drink on the counter. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Everything okay, Sweetheart?"

"Ummm, how about I just pour this out and you pretend you never saw it?" she asked hopefully.

He picked up the glass himself and swallowed the drink in a gulp. "Never saw what?" he asked, an innocent look settled on his face. He set the glass in the sink and bent, kissing her forehead. "Goodnight, Kerri."

As he turned and walked away from her, she just couldn't help but ask, "Where are you going?"

He stopped and grinned at her over his shoulder. "Back to bed, of course. It's warmer there, and it's where your Ma is and all. Besides, I wouldn't want her to wake up and find me gone. She might try to attack me with gardening shears or something."

She knew well and good that he was teasing her, but she found that she really didn't mind. She just rolled her eyes and grinned at him. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Count on it, Kid," he said lightly, but his eyes displayed every indication that he wasn't kidding at all. It was a promise and it made her happy. "Go back to bed. Get your rest. I'll be here in the morning."

As he disappeared down the hall, and Kerrianne heard her Ma's door open and shut again, she just couldn't help but smile, at least until a monstrous yawn wiped the smile off of her face. She quickly put away her might knife and re-hid the flask before heading back to her own bed, secure and happy with the knowledge that her little family was whole.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! Here is the next part. This is a little short chapter. It's not really vital to the plot or anything, but I am a sucker for cute family stuff. Anyway, hope that you guys enjoy this one and please let me know what you think!**

When Kerrianne's eyes opened again, it was much, much later in the day. The sun was most definitely up, streaming in through the window, illuminating the room and spilling light across the bed. It was warmer than it had been earlier, and she was definitely grateful for that. Her iPod let her know that it was now 10:23, and she definitely felt better rested than she had earlier this morning. She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes, before she began to contemplate getting out of bed.

Her contemplations were interrupted by noises coming from the hall. She wasn't frightened by the noise, as she had been earlier. There was something about the addition of sunlight that made everything less scary. She stayed still and listened for just a moment. She heard a door open, her Ma's room, she assumed, followed by a peel of laughter. It sounded like her parents were awake. She could hear them talking, their laughter carrying over into their words, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. A moment later, footsteps echoed down the hall in opposite directions, and then she heard the door open and close again, and then the shower started.

She shook off whatever remained of sleep, and climbed out of bed, eager to go see her parents and figure out what they were so happy about. Kerrianne stretched mightily and felt her muscles pull tight. As she slid into her slippers, her stomach growled and reminded her that it had been roughly fifteen hours since the huge supper they had all eaten at Maureen's place. She was starving.

Pulling on a hoodie as she exited her borrowed bedroom, Kerrianne made her way down the hall to the kitchen, in search of the food that she so desperately craved. She stopped short when she came to the door and found her Ma in the kitchen, making tea. It wasn't the sight of her Ma in the kitchen or the tea that was brewing that had Kerrianne leaning against the doorjamb and watching for a moment. It was the smile on her Ma's face and the song she was softly humming. Her happiness was so radiant that Kerrianne could feel it from where she stood.

It wasn't that her Ma was an unusually sullen or miserable person, overall. She didn't walk around crying all the time or anything like that. At the same time though, she wasn't prone to excessive joy and fits of laughter and unrestrained contentment, either. In general, she was okay, but okay was all she was. In the past, when her Ma smiled, it was easy for those who knew her well to know that she was just pretending; easy to see that the smile didn't really reach her eyes. Not now, though. The smile on her face and the song in her heart was the real deal, and Kerrianne was well aware that her Da was to thank for that.

Her Ma must have sensed that she was no longer alone in the room, because the song stopped. "Done with your shower already, Love?" she asked, before turning around and finding Kerrianne. "Oh, sorry Dearie, I didn't think you were up. We didn't wake you, did we?"

"Nah, my stomach did that," Kerrianne admitted, fully entering the kitchen. "Though, you and Da and all your giggling didn't help much. I hope that somebody is planning something good for breakfast."

"We'll sort that out just as soon as Da comes out of the shower. Have some tea for now," Ma instructed, turning back towards the cupboards and pulling down three cups for the tea.

"You haven't drugged it this time, have you?" Kerrianne asked, only half joking, as she chose a mug. The tea from last night was not something she was eager to repeat anytime soon.

"Of course not! That would be terrible of me," Ma joked, an innocent tone in her voice. "I just thought that you could use some rest is all. You had a big day yesterday."

"I know," Kerrianne admitted, as she prepared her tea. She added two sugars and exactly the right amount of milk before she grabbed the kettle and poured. As the hot tea filled the cup, she heard her Ma's song start again. Before she really even knew what she was doing, Kerrianne set her cup down and wrapped her arms around her Ma, hugging her tightly.

Her Ma was quick to return the hug, not used to such unexpected displays of affection from the teenage girl. "What's this for, my girl?"

"I just love you, that's all," Kerrianne told her, completely sincere. "I'm happy to see you so happy. Are you going to tell me what's got you in such a good mood?"

The instant blush that appeared on her Ma's face pretty much confirmed what Kerrianne had already suspected. As much as Kerrianne really did not want to consider her parents together in quite that way, whatever made her Ma this thrilled was absolutely fine in her opinion. It wasn't often that her Ma got to be this carefree and full of bliss, and if anybody in the world deserved it, it was her.

"You had better be careful what you are asking there, Darlin," they both turned when they heard her Da's voice speak up from behind them. "She might actually tell you, and that would probably make breakfast more than a little awkward."

Her Ma's blush only intensified at that comment, and Kerrianne just couldn't contain her laughter. It was only a few seconds later before her Ma recovered from her own embarrassment enough to join in the now somewhat hysterical laughter. As for her Da, he just started at them for a moment. Kerrianne still hadn't realized yet just how much it mean to him that both of his girls were here and safe and happy.

Her Da came and kissed her on the forehead before wrapping an arm around her, and she hugged him eagerly. The fact that he was fresh out of the shower and smelled strongly of flowers only made her laugh a little bit harder, though. When she had calmed down enough to breathe again, she wiped at her eyes and said, "Good morning! You smell lovely. I honestly had no idea that gardenia was your fragrance of choice."

This caused another fit of laughter in her Ma as her Da groaned heavily and, if Kerrianne wasn't mistaken, maybe started a blush of his own. Her Ma took pity and chastised her, "Oh, Kerrianne! Leave Da alone, no picking on him."

"Yeah," he agreed turning his head and giving her Ma a kiss. "Besides, it's not like I had much of a choice. Everything in that bathroom is pink and purple and sparkly and smelled like fruit or flowers or cupcakes. You both are such…girls."

After the next wave of laughter died down, Kerrianne piped up again, "Yeah, but admit it. You like us this way."

"Aye, that I do, Darlin," he fondly agreed. "Now, what's for breakfast?"

"I already made the tea," Ma spoke up almost immediately. "I have been slaving away on it. I think that means my part in breakfast duty is done. You two should get to work, and fast. I'm pretty hungry."

After a bit of banter back and forth, it was decided that pancakes were in order this morning. Ingredients were gathered, substitutions were made, batter was mixed, and pancakes were flipped. Between herself and her Da, they managed one hell of a mess in the kitchen, and a few plates of completely edible pancakes, coated in butter and syrup. It was a far cry from the healthy, tasteless cereal she usually ate, and for that she was glad.

They all ate until they couldn't possibly eat any more. Over breakfast, Kerrianne peppered her Da with questions about his life back in California, and he returned fire, wanting to know about her interests and her school and any and all boys that she had ever even spoken too. Her Ma delighted her by telling all about the first time Da had ever made breakfast for her after they spent the night together (they both artfully dodged her questions as to when exactly this had occurred) and her Da told stories about several times when her Ma had tried, and failed, to cook edible food early on in their relationship.

Before any of them knew it, more than an hour had passed. "Kerrianne, some of Da's California lads are coming by in a while. You should probably get dressed, yeah?"

"Why are they coming?" she asked quickly, an edge to her tone. She was already getting used to having him around and really didn't want him to leave quite yet. "Are they coming to take you? Do you really have to leave already?"

"Don't know yet, Darlin. I'll probably have to go at some point, but I'll be back," he assured her. "I'm not just going to up and leave you, Kerrianne. I promise."

"Okay, Da," she nodded, knowing that his promise was sincere.

"The water should be hot again by now," Ma spoke up with a kind smile. "Why don't you go take a nice, long shower?"

"Are you guys just trying to get rid of me so you can have sex again?" she asked, letting the joke fall easily from her lips.

"No," her Ma insisted all too quickly, at the exact same time her Da said, "Yes."

She wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan, so she just did a bit of both. There were definitely more than a few comments that she could make right now, but she managed to restrain herself. This was an issue that her parents could work out for themselves. Instead, she just kissed each of them and made her way back to the bathroom, where she figured an exceptionally long shower was in order, just in case her Da won the argument.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Here is the next bit! Take a moment to revel in the unbound joy of a bratty teenager, LOL! I hope you guys like it, please le me know what you think!**

That night, 9:00 PM found Kerrianne sitting at the small window seat, headphones blaring, staring out the window. It was a damp, foggy night with no stars visible. Behind the cloud cover, the moon was full, hanging heavily in the sky. It didn't take a genius to realize that it probably felt miserable and cold outside, but Kerrianne was safely inside, warm and snug and pissed off.

When it came right down to it, Kerrianne was well aware that she was being difficult. Really, she was being a whiny, selfish teenager. Her head knew this, but she just couldn't stop herself from being mad at the Sons and the Army for doing what they were doing, mad at her current situation, mad at her Ma for putting her in it, and mad at her Da for leaving her in it. If she was honest, none of these people were really to blame and she knew that she was being stupid. However, she really didn't feel like being honest; she felt like being fifteen.

Her day had started off great. She had slept in and rolled out of bed and had helped her father make a real, home cooked breakfast. Then, her family had sat down and eaten together. There had been laughing and talking and smiles all around. A bit later, her Da's friends had come for a while. Jax and Opie and Happy and Juice were all really great guys with really weird names. Then again, her own father was apparently called Chibs, though nobody would tell her exactly why, so she couldn't hold it against them.

All of the California guys were really nice to her. There was Jax, who was all blonde and handsome and moody as hell. Kerrianne could understand, since it was his missing baby that had brought them all to Ireland. There was Opie, who was tall and quiet, but had some of the funniest facial expressions Kerrianne had ever seen. Happy was pretty much anything but happy, and Kerrianne found him mildly terrifying, but he was very calm and polite to her and her ma. Juice was the youngest among the men, and he was just about the biggest tech nerd Kerrianne had ever met. He was very sweet, and Kerrianne appreciated that he talked to her like she was a real person, not just her father's daughter, and though she would never, ever admit it out loud, she found him more than a little cute.

They had come and stayed for a couple of hours, just talking and going over some plans in very hushed tones, shooting sideways glances at her to make sure she wasn't gleaning too much information. They had stayed for lunch, which had given Kerrianne the chance to hear more about Charming and what life was like there. Mostly, she just sat and listened and watched. These men were her Da's adopted family. He spent most of his time around them and they always, always had each other's back. They loved him, and he loved them. The more time that passed, the more she watched them, the more obvious it became.

Before long, Kerrianne had found herself faced with just about the last thing she had expected. She realized that she was jealous. These men, these outlaw bikers, knew her father better than she herself did. They could make him laugh at the drop of a hat, with little to no effort. They knew private details about his life. They had inside jokes together. They knew exactly what they could say and do around him, as well as what they couldn't. When it came right down to it, they knew him, and she couldn't say the same.

Kerrianne found that, the more she thought about it, the more insanely jealous she became. This was _her_ father. Hers, not theirs. She should be able to make him laugh. She should be joking around with him and teasing him and bantering back and forth with him. She should know him inside and out, just like these men did. She knew for a fact that life was far from fair, but damn it, this was her father, and she was finding it incredibly hard to take the fact that every single person in the room knew him better than she did.

She tried her absolute best to bury it deep, to not let it show in front of him. She had done a pretty damned good job, if she did say so herself. She smiled when she was supposed to and laughed when she was supposed to and did everything exactly right. She really hadn't lost it until she overheard the blonde, brooding one point out that it was getting late and say that they had to get going. Everybody had nodded, and they had all stood, even her Ma.

It took Kerrianne a moment to realize that these California biker guys expected her Da to leave with them, and then another moment to realize that he actually planned on going. She was still sitting, curled on the couch, staring in stunned disbelief as they all made their way towards the door.

"What the hell?" she screeched, just as his hand reached it. They all turned back to look at her as if she had sprouted three extra heads. "Are you really leaving us? To go with them?"

It took him a moment to respond, mostly because he looked just as stunned as she felt. "Sweetheart, I am not leaving you. It's just…I mean…the guys need…I just have to go."

"Kerrianne, your Da has things he has to do. A wee baby is missing, and he has to go help find the lad," her Ma spoke up, not sounding nearly as taken aback as her Da had. In fact, if Kerrianne had to guess, there was a twinge of pissed off in her voice.

"And what about us?" Kerrianne shot back. "We're just supposed to stay here, surrounded by guards for the rest of our lives while he goes and rides off with his friends?"

"Kerrianne Elizabeth!" her Ma started, at the same time her Da softly breathed, "Kerri…"

"No, you know what? That's fine. Go. Never mind the fact that it has been ten years since we have all been together and been a real family. I can see where it would be more important to ride off into the sunset with your boyfriends, who you literally spend all day, every day with. That makes perfect sense," she shouted, before turning on heal and stomping back towards her stand in bedroom.

She knew from the second that the words left her mouth that she was crossing some line, overstepping her boundaries, but she really didn't care. She was angry and hurt and hadn't wanted to watch her Da walk away. There were angry tears streaking down her face and she was fuming as she tried and failed to wipe them away. She knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before her Ma arrived to scream at her, and Kerrianne wanted to calm herself down and look at least somewhat reasonable, but she knew it was a lost cause.

The dressing down that she had received from her Ma was one for the ages. She had marched right into Kerrianne's room and wasted no time explaining to her, in no uncertain words, that she was a spoiled, mean, selfish little girl who thought of nobody but herself and how dare she be so hateful towards her father, who loved her like nothing else in the world and how could she even think about making him feel guilty about doing what he had to do and she could not believe that she had birthed and raised such a child. By the time her Ma slammed the door, indicating that she was done, Kerrianne was still angry, still fuming, but she also felt about three inches tall and incredibly guilty about some of the things she had said and done. Not that she would tell her Ma that. No, she did have her pride, after all. She would play the part of angry, sullen teenager until she felt ready to change her mind.

She had paced back and forth across the room for a while, before going to wash her face. After that, she and her iPod and her headphones and her angry, rebellious body had taken up residency on the window seat, where she had been for the past couple of hours. She and her Ma were perfectly content to ignore one another, though Kerrianne knew that their thoughts were in the same place. Both of them loved him and both of them wanted him here, but it was only Kerrianne who felt the need to throw a massive hissy fit over it.

Kerrianne knew that her father loved her. He had told her time and again in the past day or so. Kerrianne also knew very well the trials and hardship that he had been though. She knew damned well that he didn't want to leave them; that he had never wanted to leave them. She had just, once again, found herself completely overcome by such a wide array of emotions and they sort of exploded out of her all at once. She was embarrassed and knew that she would have to apologize to him. Providing he ever came back, of course.

Just as she was beginning to contemplate how that would go, she was waylaid by the smell of something fantastic. She turned her eyes from the window just in time to see a plate of warm banana bread appear in front of her. Kerrianne took out her frustrations and rage by being moody and awful. Her Ma, on the other hand, took out her frustrations by baking banana bread.

The question in her eyes must have been obvious, because her Ma shrugged and reached out to gently yank the earbuds from Kerrianne's ears. "I thought that you might like a snack to fill you up while you brood and figure out how you are going to apologize to your father for that little stunt tonight."

Kerrianne rolled her eyes, but took the plate from her Ma and immediately sampled the wares. There were no two ways about it; it was absolutely delicious. In her own stir of emotions, she hadn't realized just how hungry she was. "Thanks Ma."

"You're welcome, my girl," Ma said, scooting Kerrianne's feet over and taking a seat across from her. "I know you are upset, Kerri, and I understand it. I really do. But you were incredibly harsh tonight, Darlin. And he didn't deserve it."

Kerrianne though on that for a moment, and briefly considered reverting back to her snotty teenage stance, but she realized she didn't have a leg to stand on. She just sighed heavily and said, "I know. I was just…so, so mad. I didn't think he would leave us. I really didn't."

"He tried to tell you, Darlin. He isn't leaving, not for long anyway. He went because he had to. We will see him soon. Tomorrow actually. Father Kellan wants us to go to Maureen's in the morning to avoid some priests," Ma explained.

Kerrianne didn't know what to think about that. Yes, she would be glad to get out of here for a bit, but she hadn't thought she would have to face him so soon. Her Ma might have understood where she was coming from, but would he? She really didn't know, but maybe her Ma would. "What do I do, Ma? What can I say to him?"

Her Ma took her hand and held it, giving her a shrewd look. "I can't tell you that, Kerri. But here is what I can tell you," Ma started. "You love your father very much. I can see it on your face. And you know that he loves you too. I can also tell you that life doesn't always go how you think it will go. Life surprises you and throws wrenches in your plans and before your know it, it just might be too late to say and do all of the things you meant to say and do. I know that better than most, my girl. So if you are asking me for my advice, all I can tell you is to say whatever you need to say while you can. Tell him you love him, Baby."

With that little bit of wisdom imparted, her Ma leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, before standing up and walking away, leaving Kerrianne with a warm plate of banana bread and a mind full of thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! Here is the next chapter. I had a bit of a hard time with this one, so hopefully it doesn't feel too fractured or disjointed. There is some big stuff coming up in the next couple of chapters, but I had to get this one out first. Hopefully, you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think!**

The ride to Maureen's place the next day was a bit of a rough one. It wasn't bumpy or challenging terrain, and they thankfully didn't encounter any more drive by's, but it we rough nonetheless. Kerrianne was crammed into the back of a car, along with her Ma and Father Kellan, while the ever sullen Casey brothers drove carefully towards Ashby Alley, avoiding the most crowded streets. Even packed tightly in the car, it was cold and completely silent. Nobody talked or made any noises. Her Ma was watching the city pass out the window, Father Kellan was reading, and the brothers in the front were staring stonily ahead. Kerrianne considered asking one of them to turn the radio on, but vetoed it pretty quickly.

In her opinion, this trip was taking way, way too long. They managed to hit every patch of traffic, every red light, and every elderly woman crossing the road with a walker. It wasn't very far to Maureen's place, but Kerrianne really, really wished that they could hurry up. She knew that her Da and the rest of the Sons would be leaving this morning to go on a run to Dungloe, and Kerrianne really wanted, really needed, to get there before they all left. Whether she was ready for it or not, she needed to see her Da, not only to apologize, but to just see him.

She had laid awake for hours and hours last night, trying to figure out what exactly she could say or do to make things right with him. Her Ma insisted that everything would be fine and said that her Da would be quick to forgive her, but Kerrianne still wasn't sure. This relationship was so brand new and she had been downright awful to him yesterday. She was well aware that parents were pretty much required to love their children no matter what. She had said much worse to her Ma, and they were always fine after a day or so. But this wasn't her Ma; this was her Da. She could only hope that he would forgive her as quickly and easily as her Ma always did.

The car continued to move along, just as silently as ever, but for the moment, Kerrianne was thankful for that. Quiet gave her time to consider what was ahead of her today. First and foremost, she would see her father off to Dungloe. Of course this was just standard business, something the Sons did all the time, but Kerrianne couldn't help but be a bit nervous. Her Da would be riding about the countryside transporting all sorts of heavy weaponery, in order to meet with Jimmy. Kerrianne would almost pay money to see how that confrontation would pan out, but she just couldn't shake the part of her that wanted to beg and plead with her Da to just stay with them today. Since the moment she opened her eyes this morning, she had been stricken with an odd sense of foreboding that she just couldn't be rid of. Kerrianne only hoped that once she saw her Da with her own eyes, it would ease up.

Kerrianne and her Ma, along with at least one of the Casey brothers, would be staying at Maureen's place. She was a little bit excited about this, both because Trinity would be around and because at least she wasn't at the rectory. Maureen and Trinity were very close friends of the family. She had known them since she was a baby and they were both like kin to her. Maureen had been a constant friend to her Ma, through good and bad time, and Trinity had been an older sister figure to Kerrianne. If she had to be constantly guarded and worried over her Da, at least for today she could do it in the company of people she loved.

The car pulled up to Ashby Alley and slowed to a stop, bringing Kerrianne's thoughts to a grinding halt. There were leather vested men and scantily clad women strewn all over, as well as about a million bikes. Kerrianne breathed a sigh of relief, because that meant that her Da was still around here somewhere. She was glad that she hadn't missed him; hadn't missed her chance to speak to him and make sure things were fine before…before whatever would happen today actually happened.

Once the car actually came to a stop, Father Kellan and her Ma climbed out on either side of her, and Kerrianne was quick to follow. The day was warmer than most days had been lately, and the sun was actually out and shining, which was very much uncommon. The mood of the crowd gathered was upbeat and somewhat jovial. Kerrianne couldn't understand how, with a baby missing and a group of men headed off to deal guns, anybody could be smiling and laughing, but there they were. It kind of made her sick and angry, but she didn't think too much on it as her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for one person and one person only.

She found him pretty quickly. He had been sitting on his bike near her cousin Padraic, but as soon as he saw them, he was hurrying across the distance that separated them. She kept her eyes on him the whole time, trying to pick up any indication of whether or not he might still be angry. As he made his way over to them, she had to admit that he really didn't look anything but happy. She watched him closely as he greeted Father Ashby. It was almost funny to her, but she had never really considered that he probably had a previously existing relationship with almost everybody she knew, including Father Ashby. He hugged the old priest and exchanged quiet words that she couldn't make out, before turning to them.

"Hi there, Darlin," he greeted her Ma softly. A quick kiss accompanied his words, and Kerrianne immediately noticed the change in her Ma. A lightness took over her features and she seemed more at ease than she had at any point in the past day.

Her Ma kissed him back, and held on to him for an extra moment, looking right at him. Kerrianne was trying not to stare, but it looked as if it really didn't matter to her parents; they only had eyes for each other at the moment. "You be careful," her Ma demanded.

A tiny smile found its way to her Da's face as he replied, "Always."

It was only a matter of seconds before he turned to face her. Kerrianne would be first to admit that she was not the best when it came to reading people, especially people she didn't know all that well. Non-verbal clues just weren't her strong suit, but when she looked at her Da, she didn't see what she expected to see. She had expected him to look angry or upset or hurt, but he didn't look any of those things. Instead, he just looked happy to see her.

Her own face must have radiated some of her nervous energy, because he was quick to take her hand and squeeze it, while gently assuring her. "Hey, it's alright, Sweetheart," he said. "We're just going to give these Irish boys an escort. I'll be back later, okay?"

She knew that he was kind of, sort of asking her permission to go. Not that her saying no would stop him, but still, she knew that he was making an effort to explain things to her and make sure that she knew exactly what was going on and was okay with it. She appreciated it more than he could know. Ever since yesterday, she had been thinking and worrying and over-thinking again exactly what she should say to him. All of that sort of flew out of her head though, now that he was right here in front of her. She had meant to apologize and beg forgiveness and promise that she would never be so rude to him again. Standing here in front of her Da, looking at him, she could tell that there was no need. Yesterday was gone and any indiscretion on her part was clearly gone with it. The relief she felt was palpable. Instead of wasting time with a drawn out, unnecessary apology, she smiled at him and said the only thing that really mattered to her right now.

"Okay," she nodded, before continuing. "Love you Da."

Her words hung in the air for just a split second. At first, his face registered surprise. She had not, in recently memory, actually told him that she loved him. It had kind of been an unspoken thing these past few days, but her Ma had been right. Now was the time to make unspoken things spoken. This also marked the first time that she had called him Da, out loud, since she was a toddler. Of course she had always thought of him that way, but there was a difference in thinking and vocalizing, and she could tell that it meant a lot to him. He wasted no time in wrapping an arm around her and hugging her closely.

"I love you, Baby," he softly assured her, dropping a kiss on her head before letting her go. They were both aware of the gravity of what had just occurred. This moment had the potential to get really emotional, really quickly, so she couldn't blame her Da at all for lightening the mood with his next comment. With an obvious wink, he told her, "You look after your Ma."

Behind them, Father Kellan was talking to one of the men and bikes were starting up while the crowd began to break up. It was time for the men to go. There were no more words exchanged, but her Da shot them both a smile as he turned and jogged back towards his bike. She wanted to follow him and ask him about his bike and which parts did what and what it felt like to ride. Really, she just wanted to spend time with him. She didn't follow him, though. Instead, she stayed next to her Ma, holding her hand, and watched him. There would be time to spend with him later, when he returned.

"Come on, let's get you guys upstairs," Maureen said, coming to greet Kerrianne and her Ma. "I'm glad you both are here. Should add a bit of excitement to my day, anyway."

The made their way over to the stairs that led to Maureen's place, with Michael Casey following silently behind. Kerrianne was glad that it was Michael that had stayed with them. Out of the two Casey brothers, she definitely liked Michael the best, not that that was saying much. Kerrianne was surprised when they stopped short of actually going inside.

"It's tradition to watch the men ride off," Trinity whispered to her. "We're supposed to wave and cheer and act like they are all big damn heroes, and not a bunch of hungover men just doing their jobs."

Kerrianne laughed shortly at Trinity's comment, but really, she was glad that she could be here, watching her Da ride off. She had never gotten to do this before, and he deserved to have "his girls", as he called them, there for the sendoff. She stood near her Ma and Maureen and Trinity, halfway up the stairs, and kept her eyes on her father as he climbed on his bike and cranked it. She idly wondered if she could one day convince him to teach her how to ride, but she wouldn't hold her breath on that one. As she watched, Kerrianne kept hoping that he would turn and look over at them.

Her wish was granted almost immediately when his eyes found the both of them. He wasted no time blowing a kiss to her and her Ma. She was pretty sure that he would probably get made fun of for that later, but she was happy that he didn't seem to care even one bit. She and her Ma raised their hands in unison to wave back, and then the bikes started rolling out. The roar of the engines was a little bit overwhelming, and she was pretty sure that she wouldn't hear right for a week or so, but the noise wouldn't drive her away. She and her Ma alike kept their eyes trained on him until he disappeared around the corner.

Once the noise of the bikes in the distance faded away, most of the people began to head out. The men that were left behind went back to whatever work they had been assigned, while the scantily clad women gathered in groups and headed away from the alley. They were not welcome here when the men were gone, and for that, Kerrianne was glad. Soon, she, her Ma, Maureen, Trinity, Michael, and the California woman, Gemma, were the only ones left lingering about.

"Let's get inside now," Michael spoke up, clearly thinking he was in charge of the whole lot of them. "No use standing around out here, and I could use a cup of tea, Mo."

Maureen rolled her eyes, but turned and began to trudge up the stairs with the rest of them following in her wake. Kerrianne was almost to the door when she felt an arm around her.

"I'm proud of you, my girl," she heard her Ma whisper in her ear. "He needed to hear that. I told you everything would be okay. You need to listen to your Ma more often."

Kerrianne rolled her own eyes. "Sure Ma, I'll do that," she said with more than a hint of sarcasm. She did, however, lean over and kiss her Ma's cheek. "It's me who is supposed to be keeping an eye on you, remember? So get inside, Mother, and make me a sandwich!"

Her Ma laughed before opening the door and heading inside, and with one last look over her shoulder at the empty lot, Kerrianne followed.


	9. Chapter 9

**SO SORRY! I went to post the new chapter last night and got everything all done and posted...only to find out that I accidentally reposted a previous chapter instead of the new one. So sorry friends! Here is the correct chapter 9!**

**Hi guys! Sorry that it has been a while since the last update. Kerrianne has been behaving badly and was giving me trouble in the chapter. Once I finally got it written and ready, I discovered that the internet was down, which is awesome. Therefore, this update comes to you from the closest Starbucks to my house! :-) I hope you guys like it. Please take a minute to review! Thanks, and enjoy!**

A couple of hours later, Kerrianne was back to being bored to tears. This was not a new feeling for her, but it was extremely unwelcome. When they had come up to the house, Trinity had been immediately dispatched back to work, ruining Kerrianne's anticipated day of hanging out with her friend. Her Ma and Maureen were happy enough with each other's company and spent their time chatting over cups of tea. Michael Casey had taken up residence in the recliner in front of the television, smoking and glaring at anything that interrupted his afternoon of leisure. The lady from California, Gemma, looked almost as dejected as Kerrianne felt, but Kerrianne couldn't even begin to guess what her problem might be.

Really, it was just Kerrianne who was miserable. She had tried to read a book she had brought, but her heart just wasn't in it, and after going over the exact same page for the fifth time, she had just flat out given up on that task. She tried to sit and listen to her iPod for a while, but since she had been listening to the exact same music on constant rotation for months on end now, she couldn't help but find the familiar beats and melodies stale and annoying. She had even tried taking a nap, though she knew from the word go that it would be useless. Even though she was exhausted, she was far too wired to sleep at all, and the couch was anything but comfortable. There was no way around it; Kerrianne was just flat out bored.

She was not trying to be difficult; really she wasn't. Kerrianne simply couldn't help the fact that there was absolutely nothing to do here. She was aware that she was beginning to get on her mother's nerves, and even though she was trying her best to be pleasant, she found that a little bit funny. Her Ma was a little bit hilarious when she was annoyed. Once her Ma glared at her and told her in clipped tones to behave herself, Kerrianne popped her headphones in and disappeared into her boring music once again, but not before making it known that she wasn't happy.

In lieu of actually listening to her music, Kerrianne allowed her mind to wander. She wondered idly where her Da and the rest of the boys were right now. She imagined that they were still on the road, wind in their faces, riding towards their destination. She could picture them, all riding in formation, eyes peeled for danger or signs of anything out of the ordinary. Regardless of what everybody was pretending, Kerrianne knew that their trip would be dangerous. They were going to meet with Jimmy, after all, and nothing says danger like a meeting with somebody who really, really wants you dead. It wasn't as if she had any control over what would happen today, so Kerrianne just had to hang around restlessly and hope and pray that her father would be okay and that he would come back, like he had said he would.

Luckily, Maureen saved her from her thoughts after only a few minutes. Michael Casey had been complaining loudly that he was hungry and he thought it was about time for some lunch. Kerrianne was recruited to help with the lunch preparation process, and she didn't even complain once. At least it was something to do. Actually, everybody helped, and it ended up being kind of fun. They all bantered back and forth and laughed when her Ma needed explicit instructions to turn the oven on. Luckily, both Maureen and Gemma were relatively adept at cooking, so they managed to produce an edible meal by the end of an hour.

By the time they dished the food out, Kerrianne found herself with a smile on her face. Well, not an actual smile, but it sure as hell wasn't a frown. At least cooking and eating were both things to do and both kept her mind and hands occupied. Trinity even came up from the shop for lunch, and she and Kerrianne sat side by side debating in hushed tones which SAMCRO member was hottest. Trinity was pulling hard for Jax, and while Kerrianne agreed that the VP wasn't exactly hard on the eyes, she made a solid argument for Juice. They weren't being nearly as discreet as they wished, because it was only a couple of minutes before her Ma spoke up and informed them both that her Da was obviously the hottest, which left Kerrianne mortified. Gemma spoke up for Clay, of course, but Kerrianne took note of the nervous glare in Trinity's direction. She wondered what that might be about and made a mental note to keep an eye on it.

By the time all of them had cleared their plates, Kerrianne was in a bit of a better mood, but it didn't last long. Her Ma informed her that, since she had spent so much time complaining about being bored, she could be on dish duty. Trinity said her goodbyes and made her way back down to the shop, shooting Kerrianne a sympathetic look as she went. Kerrianne was glad that at least somebody understood her pain, but it didn't do her much good. She cleared the table and washed the dishes, but not at all happily. She was confident that her discontent was well noted throughout the small home.

Maureen and her Ma and Gemma eventually took pity on her and helped with the dishes. Before long, Kerrianne managed to gracefully bow out of the cleaning up game completely. She shouldn't have, though, because within a minute or two, she was back to being bored to tears. For the first time, she realized just how accurate that traditional wisdom regarding idol hands was. It took a shockingly short amount of time for Kerrianne to kick up a fuss with her Ma.

"Can't I go down to the shop and hang with Trinny?" Kerrianne asked for what seemed like the tenth time.

"No," her Ma said, also for about the tenth time. The calm, steady tone of her Ma's voice aggravated Kerrianne to no end. How could her Ma be so calm? "You'll stay up here."

"Why?" Kerrianne shot back testily. "You afraid somebody's going to shoot me?"

Kerrianne knew that that was exactly what her mother was afraid of. She knew that her Ma was doing all of this, all of the hiding out and staying under constant guard, in order to keep her safe. She realized that it wasn't fair of her to throw this back in her face. If it hadn't been for her, Kerrianne was well aware that her Ma would do things very, very differently. None of that, though, was Kerrianne's fault, and damn it, she just wanted some goddamned space; some leeway to be a stupid teenage girl.

"Don't you brash me," came her Ma's sharp answer. Of course her Ma knew exactly what she was trying to do and was not going to let Kerrianne get even an inch out of line. She opened her mouth to respond, her words not all that kind, but Maureen interrupted.

"If you go down to the shop, Trinny will have you stocking shelves. Come on Lovie, I'll set you up with some movies in her room," Maureen said, hugging Kerrianne close and leading her down the hall. When they finally arrived in Trinity's room, Mo spoke up again. "You know you shouldn't be that way with her Kerrianne. She's your Ma and she loves you very, very much; more than she loves breathing even. She isn't having an easy time with any of this either. She is just as worried about your Da as you are, and on top of that, she is worried for you. You shouldn't be so hard on her."

Kerrianne sighed, but nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. I really know all that, but sometimes…"

"You can't help it," Maureen finished for her. "Believe it or not, I understand. Annoying your Ma is just part of being a teenager. Just try and cut her a bit of a break right now, Kerri. Please."

"Alright, I will try. No promises, though," Kerrianne replied with a smirk. She heard what Maureen was saying and understood where she was coming from. Kerrianne knew deep down that her Ma didn't deserve all of this shit any more than she herself did.

"That's a good girl," Mo smiled. "Now, we have Trinity's entire collection of movies. She has a little bit of everything, and I am sure that somewhere in this mess, you can find something you'll like. You probably know how to work the DVD player far better than I do, so I will leave you to it."

Kerrianne managed a smile. "Thanks Mo, for everything. I really appreciate it."

As soon as Maureen left the room, Kerrianne went poking about. There were plenty of movies, and if Kerrianne really wanted to watch a movie, she was sure that she could find something decent. Instead she made her way over to the laptop sitting on the desk. She got it open with no problem, and it only took her three tries to guess the password. Kerrianne would make sure to tease Trinity mercilessly later for being so damned predictable. She was overjoyed to finally have technology at her fingertips for the first time in a month. She could check her email, go on Facebook, even watch stupid YouTube videos if she wanted to.

She was more than a little bit pissed when she realized that there was no internet connection here. She felt like she had just climbed a mountain, only to have her view blocked by clouds. The way she figured, there really must be some sort of cosmic vendetta against her, because just when she had finally found some sort of entertainment, here was yet another roadblock. Part of her just wanted to toss the laptop out the window in frustration, but the smarter, more logical part of her brain kept her from doing exactly that. At the very least, she could play Minesweeper and listen to Trinity's music, and that was better than nothing.

Kerrianne plugged her headphones into the laptop and pulled up iTunes. She could take the time to peruse and select specific music, but she didn't. She just put it on random shuffle and turned the volume up. She may not have the internet to keep her entertained, but this music would do. It was loud and it served his purpose and kept her from thinking too hard about her Ma and the stress she was under and her Da and the danger he was in. Really, she just wanted a break for a few minutes; just some peace and quiet in her head.

It worked. For a little while, she was blissfully unaware of anything except for the loud, thumping beats in her ears and the rhythmic "click, click, click" of the mouse as she slowly weeded out the dangerous bombs in a sea of square, grey tiles, careful to use her brain when she could and her instinct and luck when she couldn't in order to figure out where the little buggers were hiding. It was working, too. Within a few minutes, she was one mine away from beating expert. Unfortunately, there were two squares left to choose from, and no way to tell which one was hiding a mine and which one was hiding victory. She thought about it, but she knew that it was no good. This was not a game that she could think herself out of. This one would be all luck.

She took a deep breath and clicked on a square. To her relief, nothing blew up. "Yes!" she whisper cheered, throwing her hands in the air. Victory was hers, and it tasted sweet. She couldn't wait to brag to her Da about beating expert on her first try.

She enjoyed the win for about half a second before the door to Trinity's bedroom slammed open. Kerrianne started, wondering who on earth would be barging in and scaring the living daylights out of her. When she turned around and saw Donny framed by the doorway, with a gun in his hand, she knew exactly who it was trying to terrify her.

Jimmy. It was always, always Jimmy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi guys! I managed to get this next chapter up pretty quickly! Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take a minute before reading this to make sure you read the correct version of chapter 9! When I originally posted chapter nine, I accidentally posted the wrong document (I think I reposted chapter 2) and didn't catch it for nearly a day. This chapter will probably be a whole lot better if you have read the correct chapter nine!**

**Thanks for taking the time to read! I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you thnk!**

For just a moment, Kerrianne was frozen, quite literally frozen. She was ice, sitting completely prone in a barren wasteland. She didn't want to move, but even if she did, she wasn't sure she could have. She just stared, uncomprehending, at Donny framed in the doorway, gun in hand. He didn't utter even a single word, but then again, he didn't have to. The tiny, smug smile on his face was enough to say it all. She was well and truly fucked.

Slowly, he raised the gun and used it to beckon her towards him. She may have been paralyzed by fear, but it broke instantly. She was smart enough to know that staying there, sitting safe and sound in the pink desk chair in Trinity's room, was not an option. In the end, he would get what he wanted. She could chose to either do what he asked without resisting, or she could fight him, but the end result would be the same and she could probably save herself some injury by just doing what he asked. As she got up, she ignored the small voice, the one that sounded a bit like her Da, that told her she was being a coward and she should be fighting this with everything she had.

Donny placed a heavy hand on her should, squeezing tightly, almost painfully, to guide her down the hallway. As if she would get lost going to the kitchen. As they walked, she racked her brain, trying to figure out what the fuck had happened. She had only been in Trinity's room for five minutes, and somehow in that space of time, the world had turned upside down once again and there was no way to know what would happen now. If Donny was here, than she could only guess that Jimmy was waiting in the kitchen, and if Jimmy was here, then there was no possible way that things could get any worse.

Kerrianne realized exactly how wrong she was when she entered the kitchen and saw Michael Casey face down on the table, blood pooling around his head. If it weren't for the blood and the hole blown through the back of his skull, Kerrianne might have believed that he was sound asleep. If the blood weren't enough evidence on its own, though, Jimmy hovering over him with a smoking gun in his hand would have been enough to convince her. Michael Casey was dead. Kerrianne did the only thing she could think to do; she opened her mouth and let out an ear piercing shriek.

Really, she couldn't help it. She had never even seen a dead body before, especially not one that had, moments ago, been murdered by somebody Kerrianne was once closely associated with. She had shared history, breakfast, a television remote, and a house with Jimmy for damned close to ten years, and he had murdered somebody, just a moment ago, in order to get to her and her Ma. Michael had been sent here to protect them, and now he was staining the table cloth and Jimmy was standing over him, looking for all the world like a triumphant conqueror. What else could she do but scream?

All of the adults flinched and Maureen was quick to shield Kerrianne's eyes, but she had already seen everything that there was. She would never forget the fear and disbelief and contempt and vicious anger on her Ma's face, nor the utter fury sketched across Jimmy's face promising that Michael's blood would not be the only spilled. She would always remember the heavy, metallic, salty smell emanating from the brain matter and bodily fluids spread across the kitchen . She would try to block out the memory of the puddle of blood, and the way it slowly seeped across the table like a living thing, and the sound of the tiny drops as they fell to the floor, making a soft, rhythmic dripping sound. Kerrianne knew for absolute certain that she would never see red the same way, ever again.

It was immediately clear that there was not much Maureen could do with her. Kerrianne felt, rather than saw, her own Ma dart across the room and pull her close. Regardless of the abject terror of the situation, Kerrianne couldn't help but be at least a little bit comforted by her Ma's arms around her, by the soft reassurance that she whispered. Before she knew it, Kerrianne was sitting, with her Ma holding her tightly while Kerrianne clung to her arm like a tiny child sheltered from the world in her Ma's arms.

Maureen was pacing angrily across the tiny kitchen. It was quite clear that she did not appreciate having her home invaded and a man murdered in the exact spot where she took afternoon tea. "You've burned it now Jimmy," she seethed. "Kellan practically raised those brothers! They're like sons to him!"

"Well now he can bury one of em, yeah?" Jimmy taunted. He turned to face them, his eyes narrowed just slightly at her Ma. Kerrianne's fear multiplied exponentially. When he spoke, his voice was low and his words were simple. "Let's go."

If she hadn't been so distressed, Kerrianne might have been proud of the serious, determined way her Ma replied. "We're not going with you."

It was those words that calmed her and got her thinking. Yes, she was still panicked and would likely need years of therapy to get past this, but she knew in that moment that her tears would absolutely not help them at all. Nor would her Ma's words. They may have been brave words from a strong woman, but Kerrianne knew Jimmy well enough to know that he would be incensed. They had all better tread carefully.

She was right. His anger at her refusal became evident quickly. He raised the gun again and pointed it towards Gemma, locking her in his sights and jolting their hearts. He didn't scream, but his voice raised just enough for Kerrianne to know that his self-control was slipping, which could only mean danger for all of them. "Do I have to kill another one, Fi, to show you how much I love you? I'm taking my family home."

Her skin crawled at the sound of him referring to them as his 'family', but Kerrianne didn't have time to ponder his words right now. Somebody else's words were echoing far too loudly in her head for that. _You take care of your Ma,_ is what her Da had said to her, just before he left. God, had he really only been gone a couple of hours? He had, of course, only been joking around, but his words had stuck with her. She knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt that her Ma would not go along with Jimmy quietly, that she would fight tooth and nail to resist leaving with, which would only spur him to more dangerous, violent action. He would shoot Gemma, and probably Maureen and Trinity, without even a second thought, and she and her Ma would likely end up dead somewhere in the mix as well. Allowing her Ma to fight, allowing this to continue, was definitely NOT looking after anybody. She owed it to her Da to do as he had asked.

"Ma," she whispered, pleading without saying another word. She let her eyes do the talking. _Don't let this happen. We got out once, we will get out again. We can figure this out, just don't make me watch anybody else die._

"Okay, no more blood," Ma said, Kerrianne's message received. Her Ma squeezed her shoulder, trying to offer whatever comfort she could. "Come on sweetheart. It'll be alright."

Neither of them really believed it, but Kerrianne didn't call her Ma on it. They would be forced to leave with him, where Jimmy would do God knows what to her Ma and her as well. It would be a miracle if any of them ever saw the light of day again.

She had no idea what pushed her into action or where the words came from, but she stood up and, by some miracle, found her voice. "My stuff," she muttered. "I left my iPod in the bedroom."

Jimmy's patience was wearing thin, but he knew damn well that, unless there was something to keep her distracted, Kerrianne could be eight kinds of obnoxious and annoying. He plastered on a tight smile. "Donny, would you be so kind as to retrieve my lovely stepdaughter's iPod?"

It wasn't really a request, and if the heavily put upon look on Donny's face was any indication, he was well aware. Donny turned and trudged down the hallway, leaving Jimmy alone with just the four women. Kerrianne couldn't do anything but stare at the floor and let the misery wash over her. She choked back a sob as she realized that was never going to see her Da again, if he was even still alive. As quickly as it appeared, she pushed that thought from her brain. Of course he was still alive, he had to be. If Jimmy was here, trying to abduct them, then he couldn't be in Dungloe hurting her Da. At least there was a silver lining here.

Kerrianne's neck snapped up, her eyes suddenly no longer on the floor, as gunshots rang out. Kerrianne didn't move even a muscle, but remained immobile as ever, trying to figure out exactly where the shots came from. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the women. In a flash, Kerrianne's Ma was in front of her, shielding her from whatever was coming. Jimmy had turned immediately towards the shots, giving Maureen the perfect opportunity to stab him in the hand with a pie knife she had somehow come up with. Gemma immediate pounced on the dropped gun, and once again, their fortunes had changed in a split second. It was enough to give Kerrianne whiplash, but as this was the first glimmer of hope in this whole fucked up situation, she would not complain even the smallest bit.

When Donny rushed back into the room, Gemma was already pointing her newly acquired gun at Jimmy's head, while Donny's was directly in Maureen's face. To Mo's credit, her blue eyes didn't even flinch.

"Drop the gun!" Gemma demanded. This was a woman used to having control and power, and she wielded it well. "Drop the gun. Do it!"

Jimmy took half a second to consider whether or not the California woman was serious, but he decided pretty quickly that she must have been, because he nodded to Donny who laid his gun on the floor. Ma instantly moved and picked it up.

"Trinny?" came Maureen's alarmed yell. Now that power had shifted, she was finally able to let her panic show. "Trinny!"

"Ma!" Trinity exclaimed, and Kerrianne breathed slightly easier. Trinity was her friend, and Kerrianne was glad to know that she hadnlt yet joined Michael Casey in the afterlife.

"We okay in there?" Gemma questioned, and Kerrianne realized that the older woman was genuinely concerned for Trinity. She couldn't help but wonder why. Trinity was nothing to her; not family or even really friends, so the concern was curious.

"Yeah, she's fine," Maureen called down the hallway.

Gemma nodded shortly, before turning back to the invading men. She spoke to Donny first. "On the floor, face down, hands above your head," she demanded. Her stony gaze found Jimmy. Her voice was cold when she spoke. "Sit."

Jimmy wasn't happy about it, but he complied. Hands in the air, unworried look on his face, he meandered toward the chair. He may have seemed cool and confident, but Kerrianne could see the fear there, just below the surface.

It didn't take long for the power to go to Gemma's head. She was on edge and about to spill over. She was throwing around commands left and right. "Take Trinny and Kerrianne downstairs," she told Maureen.

Her Ma was not about to let Kerrianne out of her sight on the whim of Gemma, though. "What are you gonna do Gemma?"

"My family has a few things to work out with Jimmy," Gemma explained, making it clear that she was not about to back down easily.

"That's a mistake," her Ma advised, still not moving and not allowing Kerrianne to move even an inch, either.

"Then it's my mistake," Gemma yelled. "Get the girls out of here!"

"Come on girls," Maureen spoke up, ushering Kerrianne around the mess in the kitchen. "Come on."

Kerrianne knew for absolute certain that she did not want to leave her Ma, but at the same time, she knew that she had no choice in the matter. Her Ma met her eyes and gave a small nod as she squeezed Kerrianne's hand, giving her what little reassurance she could that things were going to be okay. Kerrianne took that reassurance and held onto it as tight as she could while she allowed Maureen to lead her and Trinity out of the room and down the stairs to the store.

They made their way down and outside and into the store, locking and barricading the door behind them as they entered. Maureen had the phone in her hand and was digging through the backroom, presumably to look for another gun, within an instant of entering. Trinity grabbed Kerrianne's hand and dragged her into the office. Trinity was pacing back and forth, the anxiety of the situation taking its toll on the young blonde girl. Kerrianne couldn't pace. She couldn't think. She could barely breathe. She sank into a chair and pulled her legs up, hugging her knees tightly.

She must had looked terrified, and Trinity took notice right away. "Hey, Kerri. Everything is okay. Gemma and your Ma have it under control, and some of the guys will be here soon. We are going to be alright."

Kerrianne nodded absently, but she really wasn't paying too much attention. Was it really too much to ask to just have a single fucking day where her life wasn't in danger and her family was whole and happy? A day where nobody tried to kidnap or kill anybody and there were no armed guards who ended up dead at the kitchen table? A day where maybe they could just hang out and watch TV and play checkers? Jesus Christ this was getting old. Right that moment, Kerrianne wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or punch something or simply sprout wings and fly away.

She didn't want to be here, cowering in fear in the office of Ashby Provisions. She didn't want her Ma to be upstairs, quite literally fighting her own personal demons. She didn't want Father Ashby or any of the guys to come rescue them. She didn't want any of this to be happening at all. Right now, what she really, really wanted more than anything, was her Da.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the wait, guys. I have had a bit going on lately. Here is the next part! Sorry if this chapter seems a bit like filler. I have more written, and just needed to find a good place to split it, and this was the best I could come up with. If everything goes well, I should have the next bit up this coming weekend! I hope that you guts like this! Please feel free to leave a review!**

It seemed like hours that Kerrianne sat in the store's cramped, dark office with only Trinity for comfort, but in reality, it was probably only a few minutes. Trinity was leaning against the desk, her arms crossed over her chest, chewing on her lower lip. They could both hear Maureen just outside the door. Her heavy footsteps back and forth, back and forth, along with the muttered curse words that made their way under the door, were evidence of the stress that she was feeling. It was something that both the girls could relate to. With the events of the day, piled upon the events of the last few months, there wasn't a single one of them that couldn't use a good, long vacation somewhere warm and sunny.

Kerrianne jumped about ten feet in the air when the door actually swung open. She was on her feet and ready to fight in an instant, for better or worse. Luckily, it was only Maureen and her own Ma on the other side of the door, and not somebody who needed to get hit. The look in her Ma's eyes was instantly all too familiar to Kerrianne. Her Ma was in survival mode, but she didn't hesitate to rush over and gather Kerrianne into her arms. She knew that, only a few feet away, Maureen was doing the exact same with Trinity. She was a fifteen year old girl and, under ordinary circumstances, she would never allow for this, but right now, Kerrianne was happy to be exactly where she was.

Gemma was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, gun still clutched tightly in her perfectly manicured hands. "We can't stay here. Jimmy knows where we are and he could come back with more than one gun for backup. We need to get out of here quick," she spoke up, finally walking into the room, clearly ready to end the display of affection. Kerrianne didn't miss the stiff way she walked, as if she was in pain. She wondered for a moment if Jimmy had hurt the California woman, but quickly put it aside and listened to the rest of the conversation.

"Aye," Maureen spoke up. "I called Kel. He is on his way with Sean. They will be here any minute now. We need to head them off before they go upstairs and see Michael laid out on my kitchen table."

Gemma nodded in agreement, before turning to leave, with Maureen and Trinity following. Her Ma made to leave, too, but Kerrianne held her back for a minute. "Ma, where is Jimmy?"

"He and Donny are gone, Lovely. They left, I promise you," Ma told her, squeezing her hand tightly. "Father Kellan is coming and we will all be safe."

"But Ma, we were supposed to be safe today!" Kerrianne argued. She had been trying to snuff it out, but Kerrianne couldn't help it. She was panicked. "Michael was supposed to keep us safe, but Jimmy killed him."

"I know, Kerri. I know," her Ma said, hugging her close again. "Everything will be okay."

Kerrianne nodded, trying to calm herself. There was so, so much more Kerrianne wanted to say, but the urgency on her mother's face couldn't be denied. Her Ma had proven today, beyond all doubt, that she would keep Kerrianne safe no matter what. First on the agenda was getting someplace safe, right now. Kerrianne forced herself to nod and accompanied her Ma out into the main shop.

The next few minutes were kind of a blur. Father Kellan and Sean Casey arrived shockingly quickly, and then everything turned into a fine mixture of concern and fury and sadness. It struck Kerrianne to realize that, as annoying and overbearing and obnoxious as he was, Michael Casey had been somebody's brother. He had been loved by somebody, and now he was dead. The sadness emanating from Sean and Father Kellan was enough to drown them all, but there was little time for grief. All five women were loaded into what looked like an armored van and they were all on their way back to the rectory within five minutes of the men arriving.

It seemed like only an instant ago that Kerrianne had been complaining about her music being uninteresting and lame, but now she took solace in it. As they sped through Belfast, crammed in the back of the all too silent van, Kerrianne let the music fill her ears and her mind. If she could focus on the song that was playing, and nothing else but the song that was playing, then maybe she could forget about the dead man back at Maureen's house. Maybe she could forget the look of furious determination that she had seen on Jimmy's face. Maybe she could forget the fact that her Da was out there somewhere, completely unaware of the danger that he might be in.

When they finally arrived at the rectory, Father Ashby quickly ushered the women away from the nave, where Sean Casey was collecting himself. He corralled the women towards the stairs that would lead them to the rectory, but Kerrianne noticed that Gemma refused to be corralled. It looked as if she wanted to have a conversation with Father Kellan, and it probably wouldn't be a very good one. Four of the five women made their way upstairs, and Kerrianne couldn't help but wonder, in a fight between Gemma and Father Kellan, who would come out on top.

Once inside the rectory, Ma bolted the door, taking pains to ensure that each and every lock was securely in place. Kerrianne couldn't for the life of her figure out exactly why. They were deep within the rectory, surrounded by about a hundred guards. She found it a bit silly to be locking the doors, but then she remembered Jimmy stomping his way into Maureen's house and the destruction that he left behind. Suddenly, locking the doors didn't seem like the worst idea that there had ever been.

She chose the chair closest to the door, even though it wasn't even close to the most comfortable in the room, and parked herself in it. Everybody around her found something to occupy their time. Trinity was by the kitchen table, texting somebody. Her Ma and Maureen were in the kitchen, pulling out the things needed for tea and putting the kettle on. After a moment, Gemma came up and demanded entry. They were all doing something useful, but Kerrianne just remained perched in the mustard yellow chair, staring intently at the door. She needed to be here right now. She needed to hold vigil, needed to be right here waiting when her Da finally came in.

Kerrianne had no idea how long she sat there, just staring and waiting. It could have been a matter of minutes, or a matter of hours. The battery on her iPod died, but she didn't bother to get up and plug it in, or remove the headphones from her ears. She heard the kettle go off and she was aware of people talking and moving all around her, but she didn't pay it any mind. She just sat, waiting and watching. Eventually, the noise around her died down. She should have noticed the footsteps as they approached her, but she managed to be completely surprised when her Ma walked up and gently plucked the headphone out of her ears, handing her a chipped orange cup.

"Your tea is getting cold, Baby," Ma said, pulling an old wooden chair up and situating it right next to Kerrianne's own chair.

"Oh, yeah," Kerrianne replied, sitting up a little bit straighter and taking a small sip from the cup. The tea inside was already cold, but Kerrianne wouldn't tell her Ma that. "Thank you, Ma. I appreciate you looking out for me."

"Aye, it's my job," Ma told her with a smile, putting an arm around her. "I know today had to be scary for you, Kerri. None of us were expecting anything like that to happen. I guess I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

Kerrianne knew that her Ma was trying to reassure her, and she wanted to speak up and tell her that everything was fine and nothing was wrong. She couldn't, though. Kerrianne just wasn't ready to hash out what happened. She shrugged off her Ma's embrace, and took another gulp of her tea. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not, but I'll let it go, for now," Ma sighed, exhaustedly, and it made Kerrianne feel awful. They were quiet for just a moment, sitting in their side by side chairs, sipping tea. Neither of them knew it, but their thoughts were centered on the exact same things. An outside observer would probably stand and marvel at the two of them. They were very nearly identical in their silent brooding. Ma didn't let it stand for long. "Are you going to tell me why we are sitting here, staring at the rectory door?"

A part of Kerrianne wanted to snap at her to mind her own business, but she just couldn't do it. She knew how hard her Ma was trying and she was also well aware that her mother was probably the only other person in the world who could understand what she was thinking and feeling right now. Kerrianne turned and looked her in the eye and noted that her Ma looked just as concerned as she herself was. She turned her eyes back towards the door and quietly admitted, "I'm waiting for Da."

Part of her was glad that she wasn't actually looking at her Ma right now, because she wasn't sure that she could take the look she would surely see on her Ma's face. It was a minute before she replied, "Aye. I kind of figured that much."

That didn't surprise Kerrianne even a little bit. She could deny it, but it wouldn't do much good. Her Ma could always read her like a book. Instead, she looked at her Ma and asked, "Shouldn't he be back soon?"

"I am sure he will be," her Ma said, with a nod. "Maureen called McGee as soon as she could. It takes a while to get here from the meet up location. I am sure that your Da is moving heaven and earth to get here, Baby."

Kerrianne knew that. She knew that nothing would stop her Da from getting here; nothing except…

"Ma," Kerrianne started. "What if…I mean, how do you know that…"

Kerrianne couldn't finish, but then again, she didn't need to. Her Ma immediately shook her head emphatically. It was clear that she was not willing to let Kerrianne go down that path. "No, Kerrianne. Absolutely not. Your Da is fine. He is on his way here now and we will see him soon."

"But Ma," Kerrianne argued. "How do you know?"

"I just know, Kerrianne," her Ma insisted. Her voice was probably harsher than she knew, but it let Kerrianne know just how serious she was. "I just know. You may think that it is ridiculous, but I love him. If something had happened to him, I would know it. No, Kerrianne. Da is fine."

Kerrianne took a long, hard look at her Ma. It was then, and only then, that she realized she was not alone in her panic. She may have been sitting here, worried about her Da, but her Ma had just as much at stake as she did. Kerrianne was young, and she had never been in love before, but as she gazed at her Ma, she knew for sure that she was looking right at it. She made a conscious decision, right then, to believe in her Ma and have faith that her Da was going to be just fine.

Kerrianne wanted to ask. She wanted to sit for hours and question her Ma about whatever cosmic connection her two parents seemed to share. This love, this history, this whole relationship was a complete mystery to her, and she wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything, but she didn't ask. Instead, she just reached over and took her Ma's hand, squeezing tightly as they waited, together, for whatever was going to come through that door.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi guys! Here is chapter twelve...so sorry that it has been so long since the last update. Things have been crazy lately! Hope that you enjoy this part, and please feel free to let me know what you think! Thanks and enjoy!**

It took a while, a long while of sitting and waiting, before Kerrianne heard it. She wasn't sure how she could hear it at all, as they were deep inside the rectory, surrounded by thick stone walls, but she most definitely heard it. Nobody else seemed to notice the noise. Gemma was at the table, picking at her nails. Maureen was on the couch, her head leaning against the wall, a flask clutched in her hand. Trinity was sound asleep. Ma was still right next to her, but she was so lost in her own thoughts that Kerrianne wasn't surprised that the noise had escaped her notice. It didn't matter though, because even if Kerrianne was the only one who noticed, the sound of roaring motorcycles was there, growing louder and closer by the minute.

Kerrianne was simultaneously struck by two very different feelings. There was a strange mix of relief and fear coursing through her body. She knew that there could be only one of two outcomes stemming from what was about to happen. Any minute now, her Da might walk through that door and hug her tightly and tell her that he was okay, that she was okay, that they were all okay. He would kiss her on the forehead and promise that nothing like this would ever happen again, and kiss her Ma and they would all spend several hours fully involved in a group hug. Or, there was the terrible alternative. These approaching motorcycles could be bearing the worst news, and Kerrianne's world would explode.

During the past few hours since Jimmy had re-entered and re-exited their lives, Kerrianne had been willing herself not to consider the possibility that something might have happened to her Da. She knew that Jimmy was a violent, dangerous man. She also knew that he was out for blood, and since she and her Ma had thwarted him, her Da would be next in line for that rage. She may have only just gotten him back, but she loved him and didn't want him to go anywhere. Kerrianne was aware that her father not walking through that door was a possibility, but she couldn't even fathom what her reaction would be if he was somehow gone from this world. There were some things that were just too awful to consider, and this was absolutely one of them. All she could do was sit up straighter, hold her breath, and pray to God that her father would walk through the door.

The feeling of Ma's hand slipping into hers alerted Kerrianne to the fact that that everybody else in the room could hear the motorcycles now. As she glanced around, she noticed that there was no sleeping, no nail picking, no drinking, and no brooding happened. Everybody was awake and alert with their eyes trained on the door. Of course, each and every one of them wanted to rush outside and see for themselves who was here and who was not and what the hell was going on. They all knew that they wouldn't get past the door, no matter how much they wanted to, so they all stayed sitting with baited breath.

Ma was squeezing Kerrianne's hand impossibly tightly, and Kerrianne knew that if she looked, she would see the same worry, fear, and desperation she was feeling plastered over the face that looked back at her. She couldn't look, so instead, she just stared at the door as the heavy, shuffling sound of boots falling on the staircase echoed across the room and then stopped directly outside of the door. Kerrianne's pulse was pounding and air just refused to enter or exit her lungs as she sat waiting through these final few seconds.

When the door finally swung open, the face that greeted the waiting eyes was NOT the one that Kerrianne had expected. It wasn't the scarred, worried face of her Da that she saw, nor the imposing face of Jax or McGee or Clay. Instead, it was the smoother, younger, browner face of Juice that appeared in the doorway, looking nearly as concerned as Kerrianne expected her father to look. Kerrianne did not have very much time to wonder why they young Latino looked so upset and distressed, because his face disappeared nearly as quickly as it had appeared.

Despite the serious, anxious circumstance, Kerrianne very nearly laughed out loud when her Da came up behind Juice and actually shoved him out of the way. Just like that, there he was, and suddenly things didn't seem so bad at all. Yes, Jimmy had arrived and murdered somebody and attempted to abduct her and her Ma, but he had been stopped and her Da was here now, and her Ma was here, and she was here, and everything was going to be just fine. She had barely a second to revel in the frenzied joy and relief that had washed over her before she and her Ma both were in his arms.

She hugged him for all she was worth. She tried her best to pour every single emotion she had into this hug; the love, the fear, the relief, the worry, and the sheer joy were all present. It was just as she had imagined, she and her Ma and her Da were tangled in a massive, desperate hug, and there was no doubt in her mind that there would be bruises later from the intensity of this particular embrace, but Kerrianne didn't care at all, because this was the best thing she could possibly imagine feeling.

It took her a few seconds to focus on anything other than her own stunned happiness, but gradually, other senses started working again and made their way into her psyche. It didn't take her very long to notice that something was not quite right. Maybe it was the way her Da was still gripping them both like their lives depended on it, or the faint scent of fire hanging in the air, or the sound of him muttering a mixture of apologies and "thank Gods" over and over again. Maybe it was the smudges of dirt, blood, and ash spread across his skin and clothing. Maybe it was her own intuition, but she knew that something was off.

The hug ended eventually, and Kerrianne was glad to see that her Ma also realized that something was wrong. A single swipe across her eyes cleared them enough for her to take a good look at her Da. She was anxious to figure out what on earth was wrong with him. He was really and truly here, all six something feet of him. He was absolutely filthy, and Kerrianne really wanted to ask why, but the look on his face stopped her. It was filthy like the rest of him, which only made it easier to see the tear tracks down his face. That, however, wasn't what caught Kerrianne's attention. No, it was the haunted look in his eyes that gripped her and made her reach out and clutch his hand.

She wanted to ask him what was wrong; wanted to insist that he tell her exactly what she could do to make him stop looking so broken. She wanted to ask, but she couldn't. It quickly became very clear to her that they had an audience, and a rather large one at that. There were about ten bikers, all of whom were as dirty and bloody as her Da, plus Father Ashby and the rest of the women. Luckily, the priest realized pretty quickly that the small family might need a few minutes alone.

"Why don't we head downstairs, where there is more room," he suggested, though his tone of voice made it clear that it wasn't really a suggestion. "I believe one of the sisters has made some tea."

One by one, the bikers and the women followed Father Kellan out the door and down the stairs, some of them patting her Da on the back, others just shooting him sympathetic looks. Her parents paid no mind to the priest's instructions to move downstairs, but Kerrianne briefly wondered if she should follow everybody else. Her parents seemed to be caught up in one of their silent conversations that she couldn't for the life of her understand. In the end, her need to know what was happening far outweighed her discomfort, so she stayed put.

As soon as the door closed, her Da pulled both Kerrianne and her Ma in again, and they all enjoyed just another moment of being close to one another and knowing that each of them were safe. This is what she had been waiting for, hoping for, for the past several hours. They stayed that way for several minutes, not able to move past their need to be physically connected; almost as if they were willing each other to not disappear. None of them were talking, even though there were many, many things to say. It was her Da who eventually broke the silence.

"Are you both okay?" he asked softly, leaning back just slightly in order to look at them both, running rough fingers ever so gently across their cheeks and over their hair.

"We're fine, Love," Ma answered with a small smile. She rested a hand against her cheek, and unless Kerrianne was mistaken, he leaned into her touch, taking every bit of solace she offered. "What happened to you, Filip?"

"Nothing happened," he replied quickly, ending their family embrace and walking over to the couch. He sat heavily and ran his hands roughly through his hair. "Not to me, anyway."

They both followed him over to the couch, quickly. Her Ma chose to sit as close as possible to him, but Kerrianne chose the loveseat. This was a rare opportunity for her to watch her parents interact with each other without feeling like an eavesdropper. Her Da just sat there, with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, looking far more vulnerable than Kerrianne had ever thought possible. Her mother didn't let that vulnerability deter her need to get to the bottom of this mess. She just laid a hand on his back and spoke gently.

"I hear what your mouth is saying, Love, but your face tells a different story. Tell me what happened Filip," she said, and Kerrianne marveled at her ability to be both delicate and firm at the same time.

They shared a look that spoke volumes before her Da started talking again. "It was a trap. Jimmy was supposed to meet us at the barn, and we were going to take him and exchange him for Abel, but when we got there, he wasn't there, obviously," he started. His voice was steadier than Kerrianne had expected, almost to the point where it was robotic. "We waited around for him, but he never showed. There were some little shit kids just hanging around, and we figured that they were waiting for him, too. We were unloading the truck when McGee's phone rang. That was when we knew something was wrong. Maureen told us what was happening, and I kind of lost it, but before any of us could react, somebody was closing the door and locking us in. It was the kids, and they were driving off. Somebody started the truck, and some of the guys climbed on back to chase them. It barely made it through the barn door before it exploded."

"Jesus Christ," he Ma whispered. Kerrianne was speechless. Jimmy had intended for that truck to be in that barn. He had intended for her Da to be dead. "How many dead?"

"Don't know," he answered quickly, an edge to his voice now.

"Well, at least all of your California boys are fine," her Ma tried to comfort him. "Was is SAMBEL or Army guys?"

He spoke so quietly that they almost didn't hear him. All he said was, "It was Paddy."

They were stunned. Kerrianne had very rarely seen her mother speechless, but she saw it now. They were shocked. Her cousin, Paddy, the boy who had always been kind beyond measure, always made her laugh, and took care of her as often as he could…was dead. She couldn't understand. She just didn't know how something like this could have happened. Kerrianne didn't know what to feel. She didn't know what to say, and she sure as hell didn't know what to do. All she really knew is that she loved her cousin and now he was dead, and it was entirely Jimmy's fault. She tried incredibly hard, but she couldn't stop the tears. However, no matter how upset she was, it didn't even come close to the devastation all over her Da's face. The fact that she didn't know how to help him only made her tears heavier.

Luckily, her Ma seemed to know exactly what to do. With tears streaming down her own face, she murmured, "Oh Filip. I'm so, so sorry." She quickly pulled him into an embrace. He allowed it, allowed himself the comfort of simply melting into his wife's arms, but only for a moment. It wasn't long before he straightened back up, but Kerrianne noticed that his face had lost a little bit of the despair it had been holding. He kissed Ma quickly, but earnestly, and Kerrianne was surprised to find that it wasn't awkward at all to see her parents act like…parents.

He kept an arm around her Ma, but reached over and took Kerrianne's hand. He somehow managed a tight smile and said, "It could have been so much worse. I'm just glad that my girls are okay. I am so sorry that I wasn't here to protect you. I should have been here."

The protective possession in his voice blew Kerrianne away, but only for a moment. She managed to start talking, her voice heavy with tears, even before her Ma did. "It's okay, Da. You had no way of knowing what he would do. He killed Michael, and he killed Paddy. I'm glad that he didn't get to you, too. Couldn't stand anything happening to you."

When Kerrianne met his eyes, her Da was giving her a look. It was a look she didn't fully comprehend, not right that moment, but there was such intense love in his brown eyes that it made Kerrianne's breath catch in her chest. He smiled at her, a real, actual smile, and pulled her close to him. "I'm okay, Darlin. Nothing's going to happen to me," he told her and her Ma both, sounding much more certain than he had any right to. "And nothing is going to happen to you two, either. I promise you that. I won't leave you guys alone again, not while Jimmy is out there. If I can't be here, one of the guys will stay."

Her Ma started to argue, "That's not necessary, Filip, I doubt he will try anything again. You boys need to find that baby, and you don't need to be a man down because of us."

It took all of a split second for her Da to open his mouth to argue, but Kerrianne spoke up before he could. "Yeah, Da," she said. "He got stabbed by Maureen and nearly shot by Gemma today. He won't come again. We will be safe here in the rectory."

If Kerrianne was looking for placating reassurances, she wouldn't find them. This time, she could easily read the look on his face. There was sadness and pity mixed in with what may have been determination. He sighed deeply and squeezed her hand. "Yes, Kerrianne," he insisted. "He absolutely will come again. He is stubborn and prideful and he has set his sights on the both of you again. But he won't even get close; not again. I'll make sure of that."

With that last promise, he leaned back against the couch, pulling both her and her Ma with him, and just held them close. A part of Kerrianne really wanted to ask exactly how her Da was going to make sure Jimmy didn't bother them again, but she didn't. She wasn't very sure she would like the answer he gave her. Instead, she leaned against his shoulder and smiled at her Ma opposite her, before allowing her eyes to close and rest to take her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here is the next bit! Thank you all for taking the time to read. I would love to hear what you think! Please enjoy and feel free to review!**

Kerrianne slept for several hours, and while she slept, she dreamed. These dreams were not the happy, peaceful dreams of small children and contented adults. They were not the oddball, nonsensical dreams of the whimsically inspired. Kerrianne's dreams were exactly what you would expect a fifteen year old girl who had, all in one day, watched a man be murdered, feared for her own safety, agonized over her father, and found out that her cousin had died.

While she slept, Kerrianne's head was filled with disjointed images of darkness and violence. Her head was full of fire and smoke and blood. In her dream, death was everywhere and seemed to be beckoning to her from all directions. When she looked right, she saw the dead, hollow eyes of Michael Casey staring at her blankly from a pool of his own blood. When she looked right, she saw dead Paddy with body party strewn every which way. In the dead center of it all, she saw her family. She saw her stubborn, vulnerable, neurotically overprotective Ma and her Da, who was both infallibly strong and impossibly tender at the exact same time. She saw them in the middle of the destruction, with death closing in on them, growing closer and closer with each passing second, and no matter how much she fought to get to them, she couldn't move. Even though she knew in her mind it was just a dream, Kerrianne felt scared.

When her eyes opened, it was not because the dream was over, but because somebody had shaken her awake. She rubbed at her still tired eyes and turned, expecting to see the concerned face of one or both of her parents, but she wasn't even close. Instead, there was a mohawked, Latino boy kneeling next to the couch, looking incredibly nervous about something. Kerrianne just started at him for a moment, trying to process both her terrifying dream and the current awkwardness she was feeling.

The look on her face must have incited something in Juice, because he spoke up pretty quickly, "Hi. Sorry about waking you up. I think you were having a dream. You were making noises and kicking and stuff, so I figured I should wake you up, just in case. Sorry," he explained in a rush.

Kerrianne nodded uncomfortably and let loose a yawn that was about as far from lady like as it got. It kind of pissed her off that she felt more tired now than she had before she fell asleep, but with the dream she had just been awoken from, it really didn't surprise her. "Where are my parents?" she asked, more bluntly that she had intended.

"You Mom went to take a shower a few minutes ago," the man, Juice, explained. "Your Dad had to leave for a while; they are having church. He asked me to stay with you guys. Well, not really asked. More like told me in a way I wasn't about to argue with. Anyway, after what happened today, he is pretty worried, I guess. I've never seen him like this, at least."

"Wait, my Da left because he had to go to church? Doesn't he know that there is a church literally just down stairs?" Kerrianne asked, incredibly confused. As concerned and attentive as her Da had been, it just didn't make sense to her that he would pick now to go commune with God.

Juice grinned and shook his head. Kerrianne decided that he had a nice smile. "Nah, not that kind of church. It's a Club thing. When we meet all together, it's called church."

"Why?" was the only thing she could think to ask.

"I have no idea, actually. There are all sorts of Club code words, and I really don't know where any of them come from," he admitted. "But after all of the shit that went down today, they need to meet to figure out what the hell to do next."

Kerrianne nodded, even though she didn't quite get the need for code words and whatnot. They were bikers, after all, not secret agents. She sat up and stretched out, before turning to look at him again. "So he had to be there to figure things out, but you didn't?" she asked.

Juice shrugged at her, "He's more important than I am."

His answer surprised Kerrianne, not because of the truth of it, but because of how freely he admitted it. Kerrianne was smart enough to know that her Da had been a part of the Sons of Anarchy for a long time, and Juice looked like he was barely out of high school, so of course her Da probably carried more weight than he did, but Kerrianne hadn't expected him to just come right out and say it. Most men would be full of pride and try to inflate their importance, but Juice didn't seem to be one of those men. It was something that she could respect.

She raised her knees to her chest and hugged her arms around them, trying to stretch out her lower back. Sleeping on a couch was probably not the best idea she had ever had. Both she and Juice were quite for a bit, each of them thinking their own thoughts. It took Kerrianne a moment to realize that she had a bit of a golden opportunity here. This man was one of her father's friends, and she knew that if her Da trusted Juice to look after them, then they were probably pretty good friends. All of these lads from California seemed incredibly close. Who would know more about her Da, about his thoughts and opinions and attitudes and likes and dislikes, better than his friends?

"You and my Da," Kerrianne spoke up quite suddenly, startling Juice. "You guys are friends?"

Juice appeared to consider her question for a moment before replying, "Yeah. We are friends."

She knew from the look on the young man's face that there was a lot more to the story than he offered up right away. Kerrianne fixed an expectant look on her face and just stared at him, one eyebrow raised, indicating that he better continue, and quick. "Listen, in the Club, we are all brothers. That means that we have each other's backs, all the time, no questions asked. Like now, Jax needed us, so we all followed him halfway across the world. That's just how it works. But Chibs is a little bit different. He in one of the few guys who I consider a friend on top of being a brother. You know what I mean?"

"Not really, no," she replied.

He sighed. Of course she didn't get it. "He is kind of the one who looks out for me. When I first joined the Club, I was kind of a mess. I was a long way from home and had nobody around me that I trusted or that gave a shit about me. That's something he could relate to a little bit, I guess. He kind of took me under his wing a bit; made sure I was okay and everything. He even made me soup when I was sick one time. Magic soup."

Kerrianne smiled at that. It was something she could picture her Da doing. She liked what she was hearing, so she pressed on. "What's he like?"

Juice looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Are you sure it's me that you should be asking about this?"

Kerrianne narrowed her eyes slightly and looked around. "I don't see anybody else here, Juice. You're all I've got."

He sighed and looked away from her. It was clear that he wasn't exactly used to conversations like this, but the way he figured, she deserved to know about her own father. "He's a good guy, Kerrianne. There isn't a person alive who doesn't like Chibs. Well, except Jimmy, I guess. Anyway he has this way of just putting people around him at ease and making them feel comfortable. One minute, they are all tough and silent and brooding, and the next minute they are pouring out their deepest secrets. He's funny and can make pretty much anybody laugh. This one day," Juice recalled with a fond smile on his face. "I was just having the shittiest day imaginable. My girlfriend had dumped me and kicked me out of the apartment, and then I got jumped and my bike broke down. Anyway, in the space of one cigarette, he had me laughing like a little kid."

Kerrianne nodded, "Ma told me that one of the reasons she fell in love with him was because he could make her laugh."

"I can see that," Juice agreed.

Kerrianne was hooked now. "Tell me more."

"I don't know what else to say," Juice told her, but he kept talking anyway. He thought of things that he wished he knew about his own father; not huge, monumental things, but little, everyday things. "He is pretty much addicted to candy. Just all kinds of candy. He is allergic to cats, but they seem to love him and literally flock to him whenever they can. He won't eat corn, for any reason. He is really, really smart, but he doesn't flaunt it like some people do. He can dominate anybody in a game of poker, but he really likes to play chess. He is a surprisingly good singer, but doesn't think anybody knows, because he only sings when he thinks he is by himself in the garage. He likes to drink whiskey and hates to drink milk. He still watches cartoons sometimes."

She hung on his every word, absorbing and committing them to memory. To Juice, these may have just been random facts pulled from his memory banks, but to Kerrianne, these were pieces of her father; pieces that built up and made him he was. She opened her mouth, intending to ask for him to keep going, but the question that left her mouth was something completely different and unexpected. "Does he talk about me?"

Kerrianne would be a liar if she said that the look on Juice's face right then didn't alarm her. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Her heart and demeanor sank when she realized what his response would be, and Juice rushed to answer her, because the last thing he wanted to see was this girl upset. There was something different about her and he had a strong urge to protect her. "Listen Kerrianne. He doesn't talk about you very much, but that's not a bad thing!"

She looked at him as if he was the stupidest person in the world. "How do you figure?"

"I know him pretty well," he started to explain, choosing his words very, very carefully. "And he is loud and hilarious and the life of the party, most of the time. He could literally talk and tell stories for days at a time, but there are just some things that he keeps close to the chest and just doesn't talk about at all, and it's those things that are most important to him. You and your Mom are the things he keeps closest."

"How do you know?" she asked, not at all comfortable with how fragile and breakable she sounded.

"I know because I've been to his house," Juice told her. "It's pretty much an interior decorator's nightmare. There are no pictures or anything in the entire place, except the one he keeps of you, and one of your Mom, right next to his bed. I never asked who it was, and he never told me, but now that I've met you, there is absolutely no mistaking it. He carries one in his wallet, too. You can even check if you don't believe me."

"That's kind of cool, Juice, but it really doesn't prove anything. It's just a picture," Kerrianne said, not perking up very much at all.

"Okay then," he came back, about to take a real risk. He thought he was right about this, but what if he was wrong? "I know he loves you because even though I just met you, I can probably tell you when your birthday is."

She looked confused, but intrigued. "How?"

"Your Dad is pretty much golden. He is a go to guy for most people, but there are three days of the year that you just want to avoid him at all costs. Three day where his mood takes a nosedive and you can't get within a hundred feet of him without getting drunk off of fumes or punched in the face. March 4, November 1, and January 12. One of those has to be your birthday."

"November 1," she replied, somewhat amazed. "Ma's birthday is March 4. I am not sure what January 12 is, though."

"Their anniversary?" Juice guessed with a shrug.

"Great guess," came a voice from behind them, and Kerrianne turned in time to see her Ma walking into the room. Kerrianne wondered exactly how much her Ma might have overheard. "You've got a knack for that, Juice. Maybe you should work for the circus."

The young man in question managed to look both flattered and mortified at the exact same time. He made a strange noise of acknowledgement before returning to silence and looking as if he would like to disappear into the couch.

Ma spoke up again, "It's getting late, my girl. Maybe you should head to bed."

Bed would be a wonderful thing, even better if she could manage to get a few hours of restful sleep, but she couldn't go quite yet. "Is Da going to come back?"

It was Juice who spoke up, rather than her Ma, "There is pretty much nothing in the world that could stop him from getting back here tonight. He'll be here."

Ma nodded in agreement. Kerrianne knew that she would sound like a child, but that didn't stop her from speaking. "If Da's coming back, then I want to wait up for him."

Kerrianne's declaration was met with a surprising look of understanding from her Ma. "I could be a long while yet before he gets back, Baby. Why don't you go get some sleep, and when he gets here, I'll tell him to come say goodnight?"

She wanted to protest, but her argument was thwarted by a massive yawn. She knew that it would be pretty pointless to even try staying up. She was exhausted and the absolute last thing that she wanted to do was fall asleep on the couch again, so she nodded in agreement before standing up and giving her Ma a kiss. As she turned to walk down the hallway towards her room, she gave Juice a look that was kinder than any he had received in a long time. "Thanks for everything, Juice," she said softly. "I mean it."

He looked up and shot a megawatt smile her way. "No problem. Goodnight, Kerrianne. Sleep better."

She gave him a smile of her own before heading towards her room, trying very hard to not let her mind linger on the smile of her father's friend.

_Or maybe he is my friend now, too,_ she thought to herself, somewhat thrilled at that prospect.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi friends! Here is the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy it! Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read!**

Dark clouds hung heavily in the sky outside the rectory. The cold air was almost electric as the day teetered on the edge, unable to decide which way it was going to go. On one hand, the clouds could easily break up and allow the sun to shine and the day could be beautiful. Alternately, the sky could get its act together and the clouds could band together and produce one hell of a nasty rainstorm. For the past few hours, it was as if the day had been on the brink of…something. Right now, though, there was just…nothing.

In all honesty, Kerrianne could relate. She was sort of in the exact same position. Sitting in the rectory, staring out the window, she couldn't help but feel like she was waiting for something. She couldn't tell you what, of course. Maybe she was waiting for the day to turn into something magnificent, or maybe she was waiting for it to go to pieces, again. Really, she had no idea what she was waiting for. All she knew was that she was waiting. She felt like some sort of conclusion was imminent; like by the time night fell, all the chaos would be settled one way or another.

Somewhere in the land outside of her head, she heard the tea kettle whistle and turned in time to see her Ma get up and go to the kitchen. She had been so completely lost in her own thoughts that she had almost forgotten that she wasn't alone; that her Ma and Juice were stuck here with her. She had been so lost in her own head that she was probably being very rude to her Ma and her father's friend. Kerrianne wasn't, in general, a rude person, so she made a special effort and set aside the weighty thoughts that clouded her brain and stood from her seat.

As Kerrianne stretched, she let loose a monstrous yawn, loud enough to gain the attention of the rectory's other occupants. Juice smirked at her from the couch, where he was dealing another game of solitaire, and her Ma raised an eyebrow at her from near the stove. Deciding that she would much rather face her Ma than deal with the embarrassment of Juice ribbing her, she turned and made her way toward the kitchen. Even though it was barely half past ten, it had already been a long day and a hot cup of tea might be just what she needed.

She had woken up extremely early this morning, mostly in an effort to see her father. He was supposed to have woken her up last night, but Kerrianne was a fairly heavy sleep and honestly couldn't remember whether or not he had. Even in her dreams that night, she had been racked with an overwhelming need to see him, to talk to him, to hug him. It was this need that had her up before the sun this morning, waiting for him when he finally awoke and emerged from her Ma's room.

There had been no major revelations during their time together that morning. There were no heart to heart talks, no earnest promises, and no weepy exchanges of love between father and daughter. Really, they had just sat at the table and eaten a breakfast of Frosted Flakes and orange juice together. They had talked about normal, everyday things, as if the weight of the world weren't threatening to collapse all around them. They had smiled and laughed together as she asked him about some of the things Juice had revealed the night before. She told him all about her school and her friends. It was as close to a normal morning as they had ever had together.

By the time her Da had left, everybody in the house had been awake. It was early, still before the sun, when he had gone, but her Ma had joined them with a strong cup of tea and Kerrianne had laughed heartily when her Da had woken Juice by shoving him off the couch. She had watched her parents embrace, sharing soft words that weren't meant for her ears. When he finally turned to her, she had tried her best to keep the worry off of her face, but she must not have been entirely successful. He pulled her close and gave her a one of a kind hug; the kind that she imagined only a father could give. He had kissed her forehead and told her that he loved her and that he would see her later; and then he had gone.

The more she thought about it, the more Kerrianne realized that very, very soon, he would be hugging her goodbye and he wouldn't be coming back. As much as she told herself that she was fine and that things would go back to "normal" after he left, she couldn't deny the fact that it was about as far from the truth as possible. She would miss him more than she ever had before, and she didn't know how to fix it. There was no quick solution, no magic Band-Aid that would make it all better, and that scared her a little bit. She was in the habit of avoiding pain at all costs, but it seemed like there was no avoiding it in this case.

Her brain told her to pull away; to not let herself get closer to him and try and to avoid some of the pain that would come when he was no longer around. It seemed logical to her to try and put distance between them, to try to love him less. Yet, each time she started to steer her thoughts in that direction, she was stopped in her tracks. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't just stop loving him; not now. Probably not ever. What struck her as strange was the fact that, even though she knew that loving him so much would undoubtedly hurt her more when he left, she really had no desire to stop. He was her Da and she wanted him in her life, even if it hurt sometimes.

Her Ma turned and smiled at her when she finally reached the kitchen. "Hi Baby," she said. "Can I make you a cup of tea?"

"Yeah, thanks Ma," Kerrianne replied, returning the smile. Kerrianne stood watching her Ma pour the tea and add the exact ingredients that would make it perfect. Maybe it was just her being sentimental and ridiculous, but she knew that no matter how old she got or how far she went in the world, nobody would ever make a cup of tea quite as good as her Ma did.

Ma handed over the steaming mug and slipped an arm around Kerrianne's shoulder. "Here you go, this should wake you up a bit. Then you can tell me what's on your mind."

Kerrianne looked at her Ma. It never ceased to amaze her exactly how well her Ma could read her. She considered for just a moment being a normal teenager and rolling her eyes, insisting nothing was wrong, but she knew that it would be of little use. Her Ma seemed to see right through her, and besides, if anybody in the world could understand what she was feeling right now, it was her Ma. Kerrianne shrugged, "Just feeling restless, I guess."

"Ah," Ma nodded in agreement. "I can understand. You've been in a bit of limbo, haven't you?"

"Kind of," Kerrianne agreed noncommittally. "It's been a rough couple of months."

"I know, Baby," Ma squeezed her. "It will be okay, though. It will all go back to normal, soon."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kerrianne muttered, half hoping that her Ma would let the comment go.

She didn't, though. "What do you mean?" Ma asked, concern evident in her voice.

Kerrianne took a deep breath and spared a glance over her shoulder, making sure that Juice wasn't listening in. This was a conversation that she didn't mind sharing with her Ma, but she didn't want anybody else privy to it. "He's going to leave us soon, Ma," Kerrianne intoned, choosing to ignore the crack in her voice as she said it. "And I don't want him to. At all."

The look on her face told Kerrianne that she was right to assume that her Ma would understand completely. She waited and watched, quite impatiently, as her Ma picked up her own cup of tea and took a small sip, before answering, "I know it."

Kerrianne blew out a breath, letting her emotions wash over her. "But Ma…how are we….why does he…" she stumbled over words, working hard to capture everything she wanted to know in one question. "What are we going to do?"

"Oh, Baby, I don't know. I really don't," Ma breathed, pulling her into a hug. They held each other for a long while before her Ma continued. "We will call him, every day. We'll get you a passport and we'll go visit him, and I am sure that we can talk him into coming to see us whenever he can. It won't be perfect, but it's going to be so much better than before, Kerrianne."

"I know, but it's going to be so much harder, too," Kerrianne pointed out. "Before, I didn't know him like I do now."

Ma nodded, "But now you do know him and you love him, and it's going to make you miss him more."

"Exactly!" Kerrianne exclaimed, glad that she had somebody who understood. It comforted her to know that at least she wouldn't be alone in missing him. "How's it going to work, Ma? What if visits aren't enough? I wish he would just move here, with us!"

The look her Ma shot her was both understanding and sympathetic. Kerrianne knew what she was going to say, even before she said it, but that didn't make the words any easier to hear. "He can't, Baby. At least not now. He has his life in California, and it's not fair to ask him to leave it, not after everything he has already done for us. Besides, it would be too dangerous for him, after everything that has happened."

Kerrianne knew that her Ma was speaking the truth, but that didn't mean she had to like it. In fact, she sort of hated the fact that her Ma was right. "This sucks, Ma."

Her Ma actually cracked a smile. "I know it does, Kerri. But frequent visits and phone calls with Da is better than no Da at all, isn't it?"

Kerrianne managed a grin in return. "We'll see if you're singing the same tune when you haven't had sex in weeks and weeks."

Ma responded with a very mother-like look and an affectionate swat. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," Kerrianne teased. "You two are like rabbits."

"Worse, actually," her Ma winked at her, getting a groan in response. "Your friend Juice is in the living room, probably on his thousandth game of solitaire. I am sure he is sick of it by now. I bet he would be up for some real cards, if you feel like doing something other than staring out the window. Besides, I think I make him nervous. You are young and pretty and much better suited for keeping him entertained."

Kerrianne rolled her eyes at her Ma and finished her cup of tea, before heading to the living room. An hour later found her, Ma, and Juice embattled in a hard-fought game of rummy. Kerrianne was winning, but Juice was close on her heels. Her Ma was just hopeless. She found herself in a bit of a better mood, now that she had competition to take her mind off of things.

"Ha!" she cried out triumphant, as she tossed down her cards and threw her arms up in victory. "That's three in a row."

"Jesus," Juice muttered. "Playing rummy with you is as bad as playing poker with your dad."

"Da plays poker?" Kerrianne asked, her interest piqued.

"Oh yes, he does," her Ma spoke up. "Better than anybody I know."

Juice agreed. "I have lost more than my fair share of money to him."

Kerrianne grinned. "Teach me."

Juice opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of his cell phone ringing. Kerrianne shuffled and tried not to listen in on the call, but she was largely unsuccessful. What she heard did not sound promising. "Hey!...What's wrong?...What?...Okay…Okay…I'll get the priest to take us…Yeah…They're here, they're fine…I will, I promise…Okay….Yeah, bye."

Kerrianne and Ma waited with baited breath while Juice turned to them. "We have to get out of here. Now."

Kerrianne moved to stand up, already in panic mode, but her Ma had enough sense to ask questions. "Why? What's going on? Was that Filip?"

Juice paused, unsure of what to say or exactly how much to tell. One look at her Ma's face, however, and the young man came clean. "Yeah, it was. He said that Jimmy may know where you are and may be on his way. We have to get to Ashby's. He'll meet us there."

They stood frozen for just a moment, not sure whether or not this could really be happening. They all jumped when the sound of thunder erupted very close by. It looked like the day had finally made up its mind; the darkness was here to stay.


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! This has been a really great past few days! I wanted to recognize and say thank you to everybody who has been reading this story, and especially those of you who have reviewed and messaged me or followed me of the story. A massive thank you to ambrosiarush, who is awesome in every single way, and Venetiangrl92, both of whom pretty much review every chapter. A shout out to Petersgirl2011, who not only reviewed, but recommended this story to her readers. Rounding out the awesome are coolbikermama, Ms. Kookie, booboogirl, and the mysterious Guest reviewer, all of whom have showed me love in the past few days. You guys don't know how much your reviews and feedback and love of this story mean to me. You have made me one happy lady today, so thank you again!**

**Hope that you all enjoy this chapter, at least more than Kerrianne!**

Later that day, Kerrianne once again found herself staring out the window, looking at the gloomy clouds still gathered in the sky, blocking out the light of the sun. This time, though, she was not alone in her moody contemplation. She was at Maureen's house, parked in an uncomfortable wooded chair, crammed into the living room with about a thousand other people. Her Ma was here, over on the couch, staring off into space. Maureen was right next to her Ma, sipping from a mug and chewing on her lower lip. Gemma was in the kitchen, making some coffee. Trinity and Juice were sitting nearby at the table, and Father Ashby and three of his own personal security guards were hovering near the doorway, whispering to one another and looking shady. Finally, there were a few random SAMBEL guys floating around, too. Overall, she was pretty far from relaxed and comfortable in the tiny, overcrowded living room, but she was getting used to the feeling.

Just over an hour ago, they had arrived in Ashby Alley, followed relatively quickly by her Da and the rest of the bikers from California. Kerrianne really had no idea what was going on, and Juice sure as hell wasn't talking, but the look of relief on her Da's face when he had seen them let Kerrianne know that whatever it was, it was pretty bad. He had hugged them with absolute desperation, as if he hadn't expected to see them ever again. Kerrianne had no problem at all returning his hug with equal enthusiasm. It only lasted for a minute or two before he had to go again. The baby, Abel, was apparently in danger, and they were going to get him back. Her Da didn't say anything as he left, but he really didn't have to. Everything that he could have said was already written on his face.

It didn't appear that they were in any mortal danger at the moment, which Kerrianne was incredibly grateful for. She worried for the baby, and hoped that the wee thing was okay. While she hoped that Abel was safe, she knew that as soon as he was back where he belonged, than the California boys would be leaving, with her Da in tow. Despite her talk with her Ma, she still didn't want him to leave. She knew that there would be visits and phone calls and that they would be more together than they ever had before, but anytime she thought of him leaving, she felt like there was a crushing weight pressing down on her. In an effort to continue breathing, she put thoughts of her Da and him leaving out of her mind.

She glanced at the cell phone Trinity had just laid down and noticed that it had a WiFi signal connected. Her heart leapt. A WiFi signal meant internet access, which Kerrianne would pretty much kill for right now. The internet could offer her relief from the incredible mess that her life had become.

"Hey Trinny," she said quietly, not wanting to be overheard. The last thing she wanted to do was give anybody a chance to deny the request she was about to make. It was better that she say what she had to say as softly as possible. "Can I use your computer?"

Trinity shot her a curious look, "Yeah, of course. What do you need it for?"

Kerrianne could have lied and insist that she just wanted to listen to music or play games, but there was no need to. The way she figured, if anybody here could understand her need to check her email or look at her Facebook account or just be somewhere else that wasn't this room, it would be Trinity. "I just want to check my email. That's all."

"Ah, of course," Trinity nodded, standing up and heading towards her room, Kerrianne close on her trail. "How long has it been since you've been able to get online, anyway?"

"Almost a month," Kerrianne replied. She knew that she was being more dramatic than strictly necessary, but she couldn't help it. Being online made her feel like a normal teenage girl who had nothing better to worry about than whether or not some boy accepted her friend request. Normal was what she craved right now.

They had nearly made it out of the living room when they were stopped in their tracks. "Where are you going?" Kerrianne heard her Ma's voice ask.

This time, Kerrianne did lie, with only a little bit of guilt. "I am just going to go use Trinny's computer, Ma. I want to check the school site and see if any of my teachers posted new assignments. I am getting kind of bored just sitting around here doing nothing, so I figured that I could do some school work. I don't fall too far behind."

Her Ma looked at her shrewdly, and for just a moment, Kerrianne wasn't sure if she was buying it, but then her Ma nodded and Kerrianne knew that she was home free. They continued down the hall to Trinity's room, where Kerrianne collapsed on the bed and Trinity sat at the computer, booting it up and logging on for her. Kerrianne stretched across the bed and was momentarily tempted to just forget the whole online thing and take a nap instead. The temptation ended the second Trinity said, "Okay, you're online. Just behave yourself. Don't go trolling for boys on Craigslist or anything like that."

"Why are you trying to ruin all my fun?" Kerrianne joked around, knowing very well that Trinity would understand she was kidding. Trinity winked at her and turned to head back to the living room, leaving Kerrianne alone with a computer for the first time in far, far too long.

It was funny; Kerrianne had never realized exactly how much she relied on her cell phone and computer for contact with other people. It had been weeks and weeks since all of this business started, and Kerrianne had been out of contact with the outside world during that entire time. She hadn't been to school, she hadn't been to church, she hadn't texted her friends, she hadn't hung out with any of them; she hadn't so much as read a newspaper. She literally had been cut off. Kerrianne imagined that her friends probably felt like she had fallen off the face of the earth, but she would be glad to correct that misconception.

She managed to drag herself off of the bed and made her way over to the computer. The screen was decorated with a blonde, shirtless television star. Kerrianne smiled at her friend's obvious taste in men before sitting down and opening up the browser. She briefly considered what she should do first, before deciding to go the email route. She was feeling a little guilty about lying to her Ma and was hoping that maybe one of her friends had emailed about an assignment. Then, she could say that she really had done something school related and she wouldn't have to feel so guilty.

She logged into her email account and let out a chuckle of amazement. There were 217 unread emails in her inbox. She had realized that her friends would probably be curious and concerned, but she hadn't expected this many emails. She took a deep breath and got to work, weeding out all the junk mail and ads, which still left her with more than a hundred messages to get through. She scrolled down to the bottom of the list and clicked on the first one and got reading.

Over the next few minutes, she got through the first twenty emails, all of them with the same basic message. The general tone was concern, asking her how she was, where she had been, and why she hadn't been in school. They asked if she was sick and if she needed anything and if her friends could do anything for her. It made her grin to know that she was missed and loved by her friends.

After the first page of emails, the questions got a little more aggressive. Some of her friends just continued to ask her where she had been and why she hadn't been to school in a couple of weeks. Some of them came up with wild conjectures as to where she had disappeared to, including that she had run off with some non-existent, mysterious boy and that maybe she was pregnant and had been "sent away" so that she didn't bring shame to her family. Some of her kinder friends assumed that she had run away to escape her "crazy father". They meant Jimmy, of course, and it kind of made her laugh that they all realized exactly how much she had hated him. Maybe she really was a book, wide open for the whole world to read.

Kerrianne continued to read, ignoring the messages asking if she was skipped school for attention and the other ridiculous ones. For a moment, she wondered if she should be offended at some of the ideas her friends were coming up with, but she just decided to let it go. She had better things to worry about. There were still 48 messages left to go when she clicked on the one that threw her for a huge loop. It had arrived a couple of days ago and was from her friend Ashley, a girl she had known for years. They had gone to school together since third grade, gone to each other's houses for sleepover and birthday parties. They were friends, and good ones at that. The contents of the message made her head spin.

_To: Kerrianne_

_From: Ashley_

_Subject: (none)_

_Kerri,_

_Everybody knows what is going on, and what probably has been going on for years. You are all they are talking about at school, you and your family. I can't believe what your stepdad has done. He killed Army men! Did you know that? What am I saying, of course you did. He is a traitor to the cause and so are you! Your family should have known better than to go against the Army. You're in for it now. Forget that you even know me._

_Ashley_

Kerrianne had to read through the message again, and then again, and again. Finally, she shook her head to clear it and clicked into the next message. Each of the remaining 48 messages was more of the same, just sent by different people. They all called her a traitor and a bitch. She couldn't get over the shock that she felt. This couldn't really be happening. She hadn't done anything wrong and now these kids, people that she thought were her friends, hated her. Didn't they know that she had nothing to do with any of this? Didn't they know that Jimmy had ruined her life just as much as he had ruined anybody else's?

She looked at email after email after email, each of them telling her that Jimmy, and by extension her, was a murderer and they would all burn in hell. There were at least five emails from people telling her that they hoped she would die in a very gruesome manner. A few messages threatened her if she even dared show her face in public again. After she read the email from her former best friend, saying that she was really sorry and didn't believe any of the rumors but she really couldn't talk to Kerrianne or be friends with her anymore, Kerrianne just closed the browser and sat for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell she should do.

Quickly, as if driven by a need to get it over with, she opened another browser window and quickly logged into Facebook. The first thing that she noticed was the fact that she now had twelve friends. Twelve. The last time she had logged in, she had been friends with more than three hundred people. And now, she was left with twelve friends. She quickly took the plunge and looked at her own wall. The things that she saw posted there made the emails look tame in comparison. There they were, right below the profile picture of her smiling and blowing out birthday candles, were some of the most vile things she had ever seen written.

She couldn't do it. Kerrianne just couldn't look at the screen anymore. She couldn't read the things that these people, the same ones who played football with her and sat next to her in school, had written about her. She slammed the laptop shut, harder than she had intended to, in an effort to get the words out of her head. It didn't matter, though. The words were still there, in her head, and still there, posted all over her Facebook page for the world to see.

All of a sudden, Kerrianne just couldn't sit still anymore. She pushed the chair back and stood, violently. She didn't know what to do or how to fix the situation that she currently found herself in. She had never been the best student in the world. She could be lazy and sometimes she didn't feel like doing her homework, but she loved school. Maybe she wasn't the most popular girl in there was, but she was well liked by almost everybody and had good friends, or at least she thought she did.

Why was this happening to her? Was it not enough that her life was falling apart and everything she knew was changing? Was it not bad enough that within a day or so, her Da would be leaving and she and her Ma would be on their own? Did she really have to lose her friends, her school, her entire social life as well? She could handle being afraid all the time. She could handle not really having a home anymore. She could handle her life constantly being in a state of chaos. But she really didn't know if she could handle all of her friends turning their backs on her and turning her into a total outcast.

This was too much. Kerrianne felt sick to her stomach and dizzy at the same time. It was like she couldn't decide whether to throw up or pass out, but she knew that if she didn't sit down quickly, she would be in real trouble. She walked past the computer chair and past the bed, before she sat down in the dark corner, near the closet. There, one the cold floor with a wall on either side of her, Kerrianne buried her face in her hands and cried.

**More to come soon (ish)!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Another HUGE thanks to everybody who has reviews and favorited and followed. I feel like I am a broken record, saying thank you over and over again, but I will never stop being grateful for you guys who read and appreciate my work.**

**This chapter is for the fantastic AmbrosiaRush, who loves Kerrianne and Juice, and who has backed me from the beginning. You should all do yourselves a HUGE favor and go read her stories. She has an amazing set of SOA stories that I just can't make myself stop reading. Her latest, Equilibrium, is just fan-freaking-tastic. Go read! You won't be sorry!**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter and please review if you have a minute! Thanks!**

Kerrianne had no idea how long she sat in that corner, crying and hyperventilating as her world fell apart. It may have been a couple of minutes or a couple of hours, she really had no idea. She didn't embrace the idea of being a melodramatic, typical teenage girl; in fact she hated girls who behaved like she was currently behaving. She was stuck, though. The more she thought about this, the more she couldn't figure out how to get past it; how to fix it. And that's what she really wanted to do. She just wanted to fix this.

She was lost in her own world, completely oblivious to anything that was happening around her, which is why she was so surprised when the door opened. Kerrianne was on her feet in an instant, her mind going to the last time she had been in this room and the door had opened suddenly. This time, it wasn't Donny or any other terrifying henchmen she found herself face to face with. This time, it was Juice standing framed in the doorway, staring at her with obvious concern in his eyes.

"Kerrianne?" he said, a slight note of panic evident in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Kerrianne insisted quickly, though her red, swollen eyes told a different story. "I'm fine!"

"No you aren't," Juice insisted, wondering what the hell was going on. "You're crying. What's the matter?"

"Shhhhhh!" Kerrianne hissed at him, her eyes darting towards the door. Just about the only thing that could make this situation worse would be for her Ma and the rest of them out in the other room to come in and demand answers that she wasn't ready to give. "Please Juice. Either get out or shut the door."

Juice knew that Kerrianne was hoping he would opt to leave, and he was definitely tempted to do just that, but he knew pretty much right away that he couldn't. As much as he was terrified of crying girls, this was Kerrianne. After their talk the other night, he liked to think that she was his friend. And on top of that, Chibs had asked him to look out for the girl, and there was no way that he would let his brother down; not when it came to something this important. Instead of turning the other way and continuing on his previous path to the bathroom, be took another step into the room and shut the door.

"Sorry, you can't get rid of me that easily," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her to the bed. She sat her down and his eyes darted around the room for a tissue. He couldn't find one, so he grabbed the nearest t-shirt and handed it to her so that she could dry her eyes. She took it gratefully and wiped her face. Juice had absolutely no idea what else to do. He was pretty bad in situations with any woman, much less a crying woman….girl…whatever. He sat down near her, being very careful to not sit too close. He didn't think that crowding her would be a good idea. Juice stared at his feet in an attempt to not stare at her. Speaking directly to his shoes, he asked, "Can you maybe tell me what's wrong now?"

"You wouldn't understand," she muttered, still sniffling as she clenched the shirt in her fists and avoided his eyes, completely unaware that he was doing the exact same as her.

"Okay," he nodded. She was not making this easy on him. "But you could tell me anyway. If you wanted to."

If it had been her Ma in here, or her Da, she would have clammed up instantly. She didn't need her parents worrying about this. But this wasn't her parents. This was Juice, and the more she considered it, the more she couldn't see the harm in telling him. She had already fallen so far down the social ladder that she was practically halfway to China, so what harm could it do, really?

Kerrianne took a deep breath, and then the words just started pouring out like a verbal hemorrhage that she couldn't have stopped, even if she wanted to. "I was getting a little bored, so I asked Trinity if I could come in here and check my email. It's been a really long time since I have been able to be online, and I just wanted to see what was going on with my friends. There were a ton of emails, and I just started reading them. At first, my friends were just wondering where I was and why I wasn't at school and what was going on. It was just normal stuff. But then the emails started getting worse and worse. They got just…mean. I guess everybody at school heard what Jimmy has been doing, and they think that I am linked to what he did. They hate me, Juice."

When he heard her words, the first thing he felt was confusion. She must have misunderstood. He had only known her for a few days, but he was already sure that there was absolutely no way anybody could ever hate this girl. He opened his mouth to tell her so, but she cut him off. "It gets worse. I decided to get it all over with, so I logged on to Facebook. I just wanted to see if it was really happening, you know? And I think that part of me thought that after those emails, it couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. It got worse. Everybody on my friends list just defriended me, but before they did that, they wrote some completely…awful things on my wall. Juice, the things that they said," her tears were starting again, just remembering the words. "They are just written there, for everybody to see."

She felt pathetic for crying. It seemed to Kerrianne like all she did was cry these days, but she couldn't stop the tears any more than she could erase the words that she had read. She felt dizzy just recalling the things her friends had said. She heard Juice swear under his breath, and then he threw her for a real loop. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her the sweetest, most awkward half-hug imaginable. He was trying to comfort her, and though she had thought it impossible, he had succeeded a bit. In a different situation, she might have found this while weird hug thing funny, but right now, she was incredibly grateful to have _somebody_ here.

After a moment, Juice finally looked over at Kerrianne and asked, "Are you okay now?"

Kerrianne nodded hesitantly, trying to tell herself that she was all done with tears, "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"No, its fine, really," Juice insisted, taking his arm back and standing up. "I am going to fix this."

That was about the last thing Kerrianne had expected him to say. She looked at the man as if he was nuts, "How?"

"I am not sure yet, give me a second to think," he told her. Juice began to pace back and forth across the tiny room, talking to himself under his breath and running his hands through hair that wasn't there. Kerrianne just watched him for a minute, kind of in awe of what was happening. She must have been a bit distracted by the sight in front of her, because when he all of a sudden stopped and exclaimed, "I've got it", she jumped half a foot.

"You've got what?" she asked, still unable to take her eyes off of him.

"I know what I'm going to do to fix it!" he told her with a bright grin, actually looking a little bit like a mad genius who had just made breakthrough. He marched over to the computer and sat down.

"Explain," Kerrianne demanded, following him over to the little desk and standing directly behind him.

"Login to your email," Juice told her, and she leaned over and did as he asked. "What we are going to do is respond to each and every one of these emails, except instead of telling them that they are stupid little bitches, we will just include a virus that will completely obliterate their hard drives as soon as they open it."

"That…" Kerrianne started, kind of blown away. It sounded great, but there was a glaring flaw in this plan. "You can't do that! It will make them hate me even more!"

Juice stopped for a moment and looked at her. "Kerrianne, do you really think it can get any worse? I mean, apparently, this one kid here wants to 'see you burn in hell'. Do you think that these kids _could_ hate you anymore?"

Kerrianne knew that there was nothing funny about what was happening, but she couldn't stop the small smile that worked its way to her lips. "I guess not."

He grinned at her, and she had to admit that his smile was infectious. She nodded, and he turned around and got busy. Kerrianne watched him as he worked, his lower lip caught between his teeth and his eyebrows knit together. As it turns out, it was shockingly easy to upload and link a virus to a mass email. Juice managed to fit in his very own special message attached to the email. He told her to stay quiet while he recorded a very detailed message about what he would do to anybody who fucked with her. It made Kerrianne kind of giddy. He clicked the send button and turned back towards her.

"Okay, so now we post this to Facebook under a dummy account and tag you in it, and all of your friends will click on it, especially if they think it is a link about how awful you are, and once they do, their computer will basically be liquefied," Juice explained, sounding very sure of himself.

"And this is legal?" Kerrianne asked, kind of amazed.

"Oh hell no," Juice scoffed. "Of course not. It's a felony. But don't worry, it can't trace back to you. You're not going to prison. You're Facebook is going to actually delete itself in 24 hours, and you can just set up a new one."

"Juice….," she started, not quite sure that words were going to be adequate in this situation. "Thank you. For doing all of this, for everything. You're kind of awesome."

He laughed, but the laughter did nothing to hide the blush that sprung up on his cheeks. "Yeah, maybe you want to try telling your dad that sometime. He will correct you pretty quickly."

"Nah," she said. "I will keep your awesomeness to myself. I think that the last thing either of us needs is my Da thinking that I pay too much attention to you. I think he is a little bit overprotective."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Juice quickly agreed. "And what do you mean a little? Trust me, you have no idea what you're in for."

Kerrianne rolled her eyes, but she knew that he was probably right. She nodded at him, "Like this for example. I can't imagine telling him about this whole fiasco without there being bloodshed."

"Yeah, like, a lot of bloodshed," Juice concurred. He could picture the dead bodies now. "It's probably better that we just handle it this way. It gets our point across with no mass murder."

Kerrianne laughed, and she very suddenly realized that about half an hour ago, she had been crying and thinking her life was over, and now here she was, laughing so easily, and it was all thinks to this boy. "But really Juice, I mean it. Thank you."

"Hey, it's not a big deal," he assured her. "It's the least I could do. You're my friend, Kerrianne. Nobody fucks with my friends without contracting an inconvenient computer virus."

Juice was trying to keep the mood light, but he left Kerrianne with absolutely no doubt about how serious he was. His words didn't miss her, either. She was incredibly touched to know that she still had at least one friend left in the world. He hadn't done this for her because she was a helpless kid or because he was her Da's friend. He had claimed her as one of his own friends, out loud, and Kerrianne was thrilled. It wasn't earth shattering, but it made Kerrianne think that, just maybe, one friend was enough.


	17. Chapter 17

**Here is chapter 17, brought to you from the airport! I am headed out on vacation for awhile (no worries, you will still get updates!) and my dear friend Ambrosia Rush demanded an update before I left, so here it is! Sorry it is a bit short, but I hope that you enjoy anyway! Thanks for taking the time to read and I would love it if you left a review! Enjoy!**

Once she and Juice had finished wreaking havoc and spreading an array of viruses to the computers of her former friends, she headed to the restroom. Juice had suggested, quite bluntly, that t might be a good idea to wash her face, and upon glancing in the mirror, she decided that he was right. At this point, she figured that she had hidden away in Trinity's room long enough, and she sure as hell didn't want any of the adults to come looking for her. She splashed cool water over her face several times before grabbing the nearest towel and wiping. The water hadn't done much good as her face was still red and blotchy. It sure as hell wouldn't fool her Ma for more than a minute tops, but it was the best she could do. Kerrianne just crossed her fingers and prayed that her Ma would have the good sense to not call her out in front of a massive group of adults.

She made her way down the hall and into the sitting room, where she found it almost exactly as it had been when she left. It struck Kerrianne as almost funny that in the past hour or so, part of her world had completely imploded about ten feet from this very room, but in here, absolutely nothing had changed. Everybody was still sitting around, lost in their own thoughts. It lead her to wonder what other horrible, or maybe even wonderful, things could be happening right this very second without her knowledge. It was a bit of a scary thought, so Kerrianne shook it off and walked into the room, heading for her trusty old, vacant seat at the table. She didn't get more than five steps before her Ma appeared in her path. Kerrianne knew right then that she had grossly overestimated how much time it would take her Ma to notice her tears.

"What's wrong?" Ma asked quietly, but with a definite sense of urgency in her voice. She had spent enough time in her life facing off against her Ma to know that this was a battle she could not win.

Kerrianne didn't want to explain right now, not in front of all these people, so she refused to meet her Ma's eyes and shook her head, "Nothing, Ma."

It was clear that she wasn't buying it. "Kerrianne Elizabeth, I have been with you since before you were born. I know when you have been crying, and you have definitely been crying. Now tell me what's going on."

Her Ma's voice was still calm, but was definitely getting louder, and she was starting to attract the attention of a few people around them. Kerrianne saw Juice nearby, ready to jump in if she needed assistance. As much as she appreciated it, Kerrianne knew better than to put poor Juice up against her Ma. She sighed and whispered, "Ma, please. Not now. We can talk later or something, I swear, but can we just…go back to sitting around for right now? Please."

Her Ma looked as if she wanted to argue, but Kerrianne was saved by the sound of motorcycles approaching in the distance. It looked like her Da and his friends had saved her from the fate of an overbearing mother with their timely arrival. Ma's attention was clearly far gone when she said, "Fine, but we will talk later, understand?"

Kerrianne nodded. At any other time, she might have been offended that her Ma was so easily distracted, but she found that this time, she was thankful for it. These days, she was actually glad that her Ma had somebody else to focus on for a while. Besides, she though it was kind of sweet how her Ma was worried and fussed over her Da. It definitely made Kerrianne smile to see her Ma so clearly smitten. Even Kerrianne, who was young and relatively naïve, could see quite clearly that her Ma was in love, and it made Kerrianne hope all that harder that her Da would come out of this business with Jimmy whole.

It was funny to Kerrianne how everybody's attention turned immediately to the approaching motorcycles. Almost in unison, everybody stood and headed towards the door to greet the returning men. Her Ma kept a hold of her hand as they made their way down the stairs in time to see the groups of bikes rolling into the lot. Kerrianne couldn't keep the grin off of her face when she saw her Da's bike pull in and park. He was back, and in one piece at that.

Kerrianne ignored the tension and conversations going on all around her as she waited for her Da to approach them. It was only seconds later that she found herself engulfed in his arms, right alongside her Ma. She decided right then and there that this was one of her very favorite places to be. He was tense and it was very clear to Kerrianne that there was something not good going on, but she chose to not focus on that. All she really wanted to focus on was the fact that she and her Ma were both warm and safe in his arms.

Of course, it couldn't last forever. Her Ma has to break the peace Kerrianne felt in the embrace by leaning back and asking her Da, "Everything alright, Filip?"

He looked for a split second like he wanted to lie and say he was fine and nothing was wrong, but he didn't. Instead, Kerrianne watched his features sink as he replied, "No, everything's not okay. We went to find Abel, but he wasn't there. Jimmy got to him first."

"He didn't hurt the lad, did he?" Ma asked, her eyes wide with fear and anger and something else that Kerrianne couldn't identify.

"We don't know," Da told her, his voice sounding heavy and tired. "All that we know is that by the time we got there, Abel was gone and the adoptive parents were dead."

Her Ma swore under her breath, but Kerrianne really didn't listen. All she could focus on was the fact that this just became even more real to her. Kerrianne had watched Jimmy stand over a murdered body not all that long ago, and she had thought that it couldn't get any more real than that. She had been wrong. Now, not only was he a murderer, but he had kidnapped an innocent baby. Any illusions that Kerrianne had been retaining regarding her own safety were effectively destroyed in that moment. If a tiny baby was not safe from Jimmy's wrath, than Kerrianne knew for a fact that she sure as hell wasn't safe.

"Listen, it will be okay. We have to meet with Kellan and the rest of the council and see what our next move will be. As far as we know, Abel is fine and Jimmy just wants to use him as a bargaining chip," her Da explained, rubbing soothing circles on her Ma's back as she leaned into him.

"But what does he want?" Kerrianne found herself speaking up. She really, really needed to work on controlling her own words, because it seemed more and more these days that her mouth was speaking without her permission. "The only thing you have that he wants is us!"

"Hey, hey now," her Da's voice was directed at her this time. His words were firm and sure when he spoke. "I don't care what he wants or what he has. He isn't going to get anywhere near you, either of you. Do you understand that?"

Despite everything her brain told her, Kerrianne believed him. She knew well and true that he wouldn't let anybody hurt them, not if he could do anything about it. She nodded at him and then she was being pulled into a hug again. All around them, people were starting to move towards the door to head back inside, but they stayed put for a moment, just the three of them, wrapped up in each other.

Eventually, though, they did have to head inside. With Jimmy and a variety of other villains out there somewhere, standing around outside on their own was probably not the best choice they could possibly make. Her Da kissed her forehead softly and he ended the hug, saying, "Come on, Loves. Let's get inside. Standing around outside won't do anybody any good. We will work all of this out."

He still didn't let go of them as they turned and walked up the stairs, keeping an arm around each of them, holding them close as they walked. Kerrianne was glad for that. "So, how was your day?" he asked.

Kerrianne wished that she could do more than laugh, but she couldn't. Instead she just shook her head and said, "Long story, Da. Long, long story."


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi guys! Here is the next chapter! I am on vacation for a bit, and updates might be fewer for the next couple of weeks, but I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I really like how it turned out. Please read and let me know what you think. Much love to you all!**

Kerrianne was in her usual spot, at the table next to the window, peering out into the darkness as if she expected to see something in it. There was nothing out there except blackness, illuminated only by streetlights and neon signs. The moon was completely absent and there weren't even any stars in the sky. It was incredibly childish, but the presence of stars and a full moon would have been a huge comfort to her; almost like a nightlight was to a small child. But there was no comfort to be had outside of the window, so she sighed heavily and turned back to the cards on the table in front of her.

Truly, she should have been in bed hours ago. She was so far beyond tired that it was a distant memory in her rearview mirror. She had tried to sleep, at least for a while. It didn't take her very long to realize that sleep just wouldn't come to her that night, so she had abandoned the borrowed bed at Maureen's house in favor of the sturdy wooden chair at the sturdy wooden table. A quick glance over at the clock told her that it was nearing two o'clock in the morning, and tomorrow was certainly going to suck if she didn't get at least some sleep, but right now she was content to deal her twentieth game of solitaire.

Even if sleep couldn't seem to find her here, Kerrianne was glad to be spending the night at Ashby Alley. Late last night, after the California lads had returned and they had all met and the blonde one, Jax, had brooded and some yelling had happened, Father Ashby and some of his guard had made to return to the rectory, fully expecting Kerrianne and her Ma to join them. For a moment, Kerrianne had thought that they would have to leave her Da again and spend another night in a place that she just could not stand, but to her surprise, her Da had spoken up and explained in kind, but firm words that they would not be going anywhere. A small, somewhat strained "discussion" had taken place, in hushed tones, but in the end, Da must have made his case pretty well, because they were all here tonight and not back at the stupid rectory, and for that, Kerrianne was glad.

Not that being here had been a cake walk. It was crowded, for one. Between them, the men from California, Maureen, and Trinity, there was not a single spot to be had between here and the flop house next door. Trinity had voluntarily given Kerrianne her bed, while her Ma and Da had been given the spare. Juice was sound asleep on the couch in the other room, and everybody else was next door. It seemed that space was at a premium, but Kerrianne wouldn't really have it any other way. Everybody in the world that she loved was within arm's reach, and besides, she doubted anybody could get in to murder them without tripping over at least one heavily armed person, so she felt relatively at ease as far as safety was concerned.

While the company was good, it was also incredibly tense here. The baby boy was still missing and everybody was on edge as to what his fate would be. After recent events, Kerrianne knew better than most that Jimmy was a dangerous man, but she had to believe that he wouldn't hurt the boy. Everybody was legitimately concerned over Abel's fate. Her Da was more tense then she had ever seen him in their admittedly short time together, but Kerrianne knew that her Ma was worried as well. He had been distracted and watchful all night. It had been nearly eleven when her Ma had finally been able to coax him to bed, but not before ordering Kerrianne into bed herself. She hoped that both of her parents were having better luck getting some sleep than she was. They both deserved it.

Kerrianne had been so lost in her thought that the sound of a door creaking open made her nearly jump out of her skin. Despite the number of people lurking about, it was shockingly quiet here, and a door opening sounded as loud as thunder in the tiny home. The noise was coming from down the hall, not near the door, so she wasn't exactly scared, just leery. Her eyes were sharp as they focused on the doorway, ready to face whoever came down the hall. She let out a soft breath of relief when she realized that it was only her Da, who looked genuinely surprised and concerned to come face to face with her at 2 am in the kitchen.

"Kerrianne? What are you doing awake, Darlin? Is everything okay?" he asked softly as he moved to adjust his sweatpants and quickly zip the hoodie he had obviously just pulled on.

"Hey Da," she replied, equally softly, choosing to ignore the fact that he had clearly been in a state of undress before exiting his bedroom. "Nothing is wrong. I just couldn't sleep, that's all."

He studied her carefully for a moment before nodding and heading to the fridge. "Aye," he agreed. "I can understand that. You've had a rough couple of days. Or couple of weeks. Maybe even months, I suppose."

Kerrianne watched as he swung the door of the refrigerator open and stared pensively into it before pulling out a jug of orange juice, opening it, and taking several swallows directly from the carton. She covered her mouth to hide the grin on her face. If only she had a nickel for each and every time her Ma had gotten cross with her for doing the exact same thing, she would be rich beyond her wildest dreams. It very nearly made her giggle out loud to see exactly where she had gotten this habit from; almost as if she was seeing the map to her own DNA unfolding before her very eyes.

Once his thirst was sufficiently quenched, he made his way over to the table, planting a kiss on the top of her head before pulling out a chair for himself and sitting down. He let lose a monstrous yawn as he sat, and Kerrianne had to admit that he looked just about as tired as she felt. "So what are you doing awake? It seems to me as if you might need a little bit of sleep," she told him with a smile.

"Ah, I never went to sleep," he admitted, running a hand over his face. Kerrianne did her absolute best to not make eye contact with him. The last thing she wanted was too many details about exactly what he had been doing for the past few hours. "Your Ma drifted off, but I guess I wasn't as lucky. I got thirsty, so I came for a drink. I didn't expect to find you out here."

She shrugged, "I tried for a while to fall asleep, but it just wasn't happening. I am not really good at staying still, so I just came out here instead."

"Makes sense," he smiled. "You must get that from me. I don't sit still very well either. I would have been up long before now, except I had your Ma asleep on my arm."

"All I had was Trinity's old teddy bear, and it wasn't very hard to throw him off," Kerrianne responded with a smirk.

She and her Da shared a quiet laugh for a moment, before he reach over and took her hand. "You have something on your mind, Darlin?"

In truth, she had about a thousand and a half things on her mind. She could explain to him about her sudden lack of a social life, or about her fears that Jimmy may come and kill them all, or about her worries over what would happen once he went back to California, or about her boarder line crush on his friend Juice. She could spill about all of these things, but instead she just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Do you really think that Jimmy would hurt that little baby, Da?" she asked, just as surprised by her question as he looked.

He looked as if he was fighting some internal struggle for a minute, and Kerrianne knew that he was deciding whether or not to tell her the truth. His honest side must have won out in the end, because he spoke up, "Honestly, Kerrianne…yeah, I think Jimmy would hurt that little baby. He would if he thought it would get him something that he wanted. I think that he is capable of a great deal of cruelty, if it serves his own interest."

He was being brutally honest with her, and she appreciated it more than she could say. Her Ma had a tendency to avoid sticky subjects or sugar coat facts so that they didn't sound so harsh. Kerrianne didn't need that, though. Right now, she needed the facts.

She nodded in response. "I know that much. Jimmy cares about himself more than anything. It's just…" she trailed off.

"It's just what?" he asked immediately, really just wanting to know what she was feeling.

"It's just that all the time we were with him, when I was a kid and growing up, he never hurt me like that," she explained. "He was guilty of a lot of things. He ignored me and said some awful things and treated me like I was completely insignificant and a huge burden. He hurt Ma more than a few times, but he never hurt me, never laid a finger on me. It's just hard to picture anybody hurting a wee baby, even him."

She watched him as he considered her words. She knew that this was probably not the easiest thing for him to talk about, but he was the one here right now, and she needed to talk about this. He looked at her, and she saw anger and hurt and longing for all the moments he had missed over the years, but she also saw understanding. "I am glad that he never hurt you Kerrianne," he told her softly. "But I think after all you have seen and heard and experienced, we can both agree that it was only a matter of time."

"Yeah," Kerrianne nodded, surprised at exactly how true his words were. "It probably wouldn't have been long. I just….I guess I don't understand it."

"What is it, Kerrianne? What don't you understand?" he asked, not impatiently at all, as if he was leading her exactly where she needed this conversation to go.

"Any of this, Da. I mean, he stole us away from you all those years ago. He took what he wanted, but then once he had it, he treated us like shit. Ma mostly, but still. All of these things that we have been through, even what is happening now, is there any reason for it? He ruined all of our lives, and for what? So that he could yell and scream and hit my Ma? I lived with this all for ten years, and it's only after I got to know you that I realized that he never loved us at all, not really. I just can't understand why he would do all of the shit that he has done…for nothing."

It was only once she was done ranting that she met his eyes again. He took a deep breath and sighed. Kerrianne was just now realizing how hard this must be for him to hear, and she was sorry for that. The difficulty didn't stop him from answering, thought.

"I don't have all the answers, Kerri," he admitted quietly. "But Jimmy has always been used to getting what he wants. I think that he met your Ma, and decided that he wanted her. I can actually understand that. Your Ma is…she's gorgeous Kerrianne. In every way. I was lucky that she was young and single and foolish enough to want to be with me when I met her. Jimmy wasn't as lucky, but he wasn't about to let a husband or child stand in the way of him getting what he wanted. So he did what he had to do, I guess. It wasn't right, of course it wasn't, but right and wrong don't register with him." He took another breath and looked right at her before continuing. "And for what it's worth, I think he did love her, love both of you even. But the way he loves…it's not how anybody deserves to be loved. His lone strangles and hurts and kills. For him, loving somebody is about possessing them; controlling them in every single way. We both know you Ma, and we both know that she was never going to go along with that for long. It was an impossible situation that lead to a lot of pain for everybody. But none of it was you, Kerrianne. You are the most lovable kid I have ever met in my life. I think we should all count our lucky stars that you avoided his 'love'"

"Yeah," Kerrianne agreed, with a humorless chuckle. She stared at her shoes as she continued. "But you are right. He would have eventually; loved me like that, I mean. The way he would look at me sometimes, and some of the things he would say. It wouldn't have been long."

She had never really admitted that to herself before, much less out loud. For a millisecond, she wondered how he would react, but then there was a sharp intake of breath from him, and he squeezed her hand so hard that it almost hurt. "Kerrianne, that will never, ever happen," he said, with such ferocity that she began to regret taking the conversation to this level. "I can't go back and change what has happened in the past, but if I could, I would. In a heartbeat. What I can do is make sure that he never gets anywhere near you, or your Ma, ever again. And Jax and the rest of us will make sure that he doesn't hurt Abel, either. Everything will be okay."

He sounded so determined; so sure of himself, that Kerrianne was just in awe for a minute. This man was her Da, and she was blown away by the fact that, as long as there was a breath in his body, he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She had known it before, but this just cemented her knowledge that, regardless of what he said, Jimmy had never loved her or anybody else the way her Da loved her. She smiled at him for a flash, and then she was out of her chair, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her for a long moment, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

She finally let him go when their hug was interrupted by a huge yawn from her. He chuckled, and despite their heavy conversation, there was a glint in his eye when he spoke again. "Could my little daughter possibly be tired?" he teased.

"Maybe a little," she acquiesced. "But I'm not going to bed just yet. You have to play a couple of hands of cards with me. I hear you're the best, and I won't go to bed until I win at least one hand. And no letting me win either because you want to go back to bed and shag my Ma."

A true grin spread across his face as he nodded at her. "Deal."


	19. Chapter 19

**Here is the latest chapter, friends! I hope that you enjoy it. The dialogue towards the end (during the sweet family conversation) comes directly from an extended episode in season 3. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read. Please review or message me and let me know what you think!**

If Kerrianne had to describe her current state of mind using only one word, then that word would definitely be annoyed. It was just before dark and she was once again stuck in one of the bedrooms at Maureen's place, and she was still fighting a battle that seemed to have been going on for forever. It seemed as though she was cursed. Right now, everything was going against her. The fact that her situation was pretty much hopeless was not going to stop her from trying; she would keep thinking, hoping, and praying until she got what she needed. Not that it helped.

"Jesus Christ," she groaned in despair, throwing the cards down on the bed as she forked over even more candy.

"Seriously, Kerri," Trinity piped up, a jovial smile on her face. "Could you have had a worse hand? A one, a four, a five, a ten, and a queen. That's just…bad."

"I've seen worse. You'll do better next hand," Juice jumped in to defend her. Kerrianne appreciated it, but since all here of them knew for a fact that she would not do any better next hand, the defense kind of lost its value.

"No, I really won't," she said, shuffling the cards, her bad mood written all over her face.

"Yeah, you do kind of suck at this tonight, Kerri," Trinity said, nudging her playfully with her shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. "You usually kick my ass. I figured you could demolish Juice here."

"Aye, I know," Kerrianne sighed as she handed the cards to Juice to deal. "I played with my Da for a while early this morning. I must have used every spare bit of luck I had to beat him."

"Which is something I have never done, even once," Juice admitted with a grin. "There must be some talent somewhere in that body of yours, so I won't feel too bad over the fact that I am cleaning you out of candy. Both of you."

Kerrianne rolled her eyes and picked up her cards. She had a two, a four, a six, and eight, and a King. All four of the different suits were represented in her hand. This hand wasn't looking any better than the last thirty hands hand looked. "I fold," she proclaimed, tossing her hand to the bed before betting even got under way.

She ignored the jabs coming from Juice and Trinity as she glanced at the clock. The dingy white clock face told her that it was 7:13, exactly four minutes since she had last checked the time. It seemed like she was hardwired to check every few minutes and make sure that time was still passing. She wasn't exactly sure what she was waiting for, but she was sure that outside of this room, all around them, things were happening, and she really hated not knowing anything at all about what was going on.

After her late night/early morning talk and card game with her Da, she had gone to bed and actually slept, which surprised her. Kerrianne had managed a good solid sleep and had not dreamed at all. In fact, she slept so well that she hadn't woken up until nearly lunch time, when her Ma had come in to ensure that Kerrianne was still breathing. It had been nice to actually get some rest, but Kerrianne just couldn't help but wonder what she had missed in those hours that she had been wrapped up in slumber, dead to the world.

The California men had been in and out of super-secret meetings all day long. When she had tracked him down and asked, her Da had explained that they had been meeting with members of the IRA and each other and trying to come up with a game plan to get the baby, Abel, back. According to her Da, Jimmy had made contact with them and confirmed he had the boy and wouldn't be giving him back until he was guaranteed safe passage out of the country. They had apparently gotten proof that the lad was alive, which relieved Kerrianne, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out how he was going to stay alive for much longer. The IRA would be foolish to let Jimmy slip through their fingers, yet if they tried to move against him, there would be absolutely no hope for Abel.

Her Da had read the worried look on her face and had quickly kissed the top of her head and told her to let him and the others worry on it, that it wouldn't do any good for her to get herself worked up over it. He had assured her, more than once, that he was going to make this all okay. Kerrianne had to believe him, whether or not she could see it just yet.

Her Ma had been with Maureen for most of the day. Something big had gone down in SAMBEL, and though the adults had intended to keep her completely clueless as to what exactly had happened, Trinity had filled her in on the fact that McGee and O'Neill had apparently been working for Jimmy and they were both dead now. Kerrianne knew very well that McGee had been Maureen's old man, had been like a father to Trinity, but when she had heard that he was working for Jimmy, she couldn't help but feel like he had gotten exactly what he deserved. Still, his death had hit Maureen incredibly hard, and Kerrianne didn't take any joy in people she cared about being in pain.

"Earth to Kerrianne," she heard Trinity's voice taunting her. "Are you planning on holding on to your shitty hand forever, or are you going to let me shuffle?"

Kerrianne felt her cheeks burn red. She had apparently been immersed in her daydream long enough for Juice to have an even larger pile of candy in front of him. She covered the embarrassment of having been caught in her own world by tossing her cards at Trinity's head. "Yeah, here."

As Trinity shuffled and dealt again, Juice caught her eyes, silently asking her if everything was okay. She gave him as earnest of a smile as she could possibly muster. He gave her a knowing look before returning her smile, and Kerrianne couldn't help but be thankful, for about the thousandth time, that she had a friend like him. If Juice was harboring any resentment over essentially being shoved out of his own Club and given what amounted to babysitting duties, he sure as hell wasn't showing it. It was this reason, and this reason alone, that Kerrianne really didn't mind the fact that he was winning each and every hand.

"Boom. Full house. Again," he boasted, tossing his cards down on the bed. Kerrianne though that the amount of pride coming off of him for beating two girls was unreasonable.

"No way," Trinity said, leaning over to see the cards. Kerrianne's eyes, however, were on the door that had just opened, as well as the two people who had walked through it. Her Ma entered first, and though she was smiling, the happiness on her face didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Hope you girls are letting him win a few hands, at least," her Da said with a grin. He looked tired, and the smile on his face was almost too big to be real. Whatever was about to happen probably wasn't going to be good news.

Taking a cue from her parents, Kerrianne continued the lighthearted exchanged. "Of course we are."

"He gets all cranky when he loses," Trinity pitched in.

Juice was quick with a retort, "Everybody hates a champion."

"A cheater," Kerrianne was quick to correct. Though she was nervous about whatever was about to happen, she couldn't help but tease Juice at least a little bit.

As she and Trinity laughed, Kerrianne heard her Da ask Juice for a minute alone with her. Trinity gave her an encouraging look and squeezed her hand before getting up and heading towards the door. Her Ma came and sat across from her. Kerrianne wanted to ask what was going on and demand answers, but her Ma shook her head slightly. She would get her answers soon enough. Over by the door, her Da and Juice were having a hushed conversation. She wasn't sure what was being said, but she saw her Da pull Juice into a hug and that made her happy. Juice deserved every bit of tough, manly affection he could get.

When Juice and Trinity were gone, the door shut behind them, her Da came and sat next to her, putting an arm gently around her. It seemed that, at long last, there were some answers right here in front of her, except now she wasn't sure that she wanted them. Was it too much to ask to just keep her parents and her friends here with her forever, where nothing could go wrong?

When her Da spoke, his voice was low and soft. "So, Clay is getting Abel back, and Jimmy…you'll never see him in the six counties again."

Kerrianne let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. It seemed as if Jimmy really wasn't going to be back, really wasn't going to hurt them ever again. She didn't know whether to cry with relief or be extremely suspicious. She wanted to believe that she was really safe, once and for all, but experience told her that Jimmy wouldn't give up so easily. She was relieved that at least the baby was okay and would be back with his family soon. Kerrianne, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel like she was about to lose hers.

"Listen," her Da continued, leaning across and taking her Ma's hand. The tone of his voice told her that what he was about to say wouldn't be easy. "There is nothing I would love more then to take my girls back to Charming with me, but I know that this is your life and your home here, so…"

His voice trailed off, and Kerrianne knew that it was because he just couldn't continue. She could relate. Her own words, about Ireland being her home, were coming back to haunt her. Her Da would be leaving and he was gutted over it and judging from the look on her Ma's face, so was she, and Kerrianne herself wasn't exactly thrilled, and there was absolutely nothing that Kerrianne could do about it. She wanted to argue and beg him to stay and cry, but she couldn't do that to him. Instead, she squeezed his hand and just whispered, "I love you, Da."

That seemed to be exactly the right thing to say. He held her close and said, "I love you baby," he kissed her forehead before continuing. "You know, it's not going to be years next time. I'm going to make sure I get back here and see you every few months. I promise."

She allowed her fingers to glance over the wooden cross that he had just placed around her neck. Him coming to visit was not the same as him being here, but it was better than it had been before. She would miss him, more than she had ever missed anybody or anything, but he had given her a promise that he would come back, and he had done more than enough to prove that his promises were genuine. She nodded and looked up to catch her Ma's eye, where she was shocked to find tears. Her Ma never, ever cried, and the fact that she was now shocked Kerrianne.

"Oh thank you, thank you Filip," her Ma said through her tears, and her Da looked absolutely devastated at the sight of her Ma in tears, so he just kissed her and pulled both of them in for a hug. Kerrianne couldn't help but wonder how many more time she would be able to do this, to have both of her parents hugging her closer than close. If it weren't for the fact that her Da would be leaving them soon and she and her Ma were both crying, this would be just about perfect.

"Maybe you guys could come visit sometime, too," her Da spoke up after a few minutes, leaning back slightly, but not letting go of either of them. "You might like it."

Kerrianne smiled at him. She may not be eager to leave Ireland, but visiting was a different story. And maybe he was right, maybe she would like it. "Of course we can come visit. As long as you promise to take me to the beach."

He grinned at her, and the sight of him smiling made her heart glad. "I hate the beach, more than almost anything, but for you, of course."

"Good," she told him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I can't wait."

He kissed each of them, before turning the conversation more serious again. "You are both going to be okay, aren't you? You'll be careful and take care of each other?"

"Of course we will, Filip," her Ma was quick to assure him. "We will be alright."

"And you, Da," Kerrianne added. "You will look after yourself, too?"

"I will," he nodded. She knew that he wasn't use to having people worry over him, but he had damn well better get used to it. Worrying was something that Kerrianne did very well.

"I guess this means you are leaving," Kerrianne said, knowing the answer that she would get, but not liking it in the least.

He nodded, "As soon as Abel is back safe and sound, we will be on our way."

Kerrianne nodded, but she tried not to show her sadness. Both of her parents noticed anyway. "Kerrianne, love," her Ma said. "Maybe we can go see Da this summer, while you are off of school?"

"Absolutely," Da said, actually sounding happy. "You guys can come any time you want."

Kerrianne just smiled, because she didn't have the words to express how happy she was. She had a Ma and a Da who loved her and who were determined to keep their family together in whatever way necessary, and all without forcing her into anything she wasn't ready for. She knew that her parents would prefer them all in Charming together, but she appreciated their desire to make sure she was comfortable and happy. She tried to set aside the guilt she felt over keeping her family apart, but she couldn't quite ignore it.

Just when she had run out of words to say, her Da rescued her again. "Now Kerrianne, can we talk about why you are losing all of your candy to Juice? You are better than this, my girl."

She opened her mouth to retort, but just ended up laughing. Her Ma and Da were quick to follow with their own laughter, and just like that, there were no more tears, just her and both of her parents laughing together.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi guys! This is a bit of a short, but kind of sweet chapter. In case you can't tell, I can't get enough of these little family moments. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I would appreciate it if you would review!**

The tiny sitting room or Maureen's house was packed full to the brim. Literally every inch of the room was crammed full of people and noise and joy and the smell of food cooking. There were bikers everywhere that Kerrianne looked, and all their attention was focused on the small baby in the center of the room. Abel had been returned safely to his family, and even Kerrianne couldn't keep the smile off of her face at the sight of the sweet baby boy sitting happily in his father's arms.

Jax and Father Ashby had gone off, alone, to retrieve the baby; and Jax had returned alone. It really didn't take a genius to figure out that Father Ashby was with Jimmy, which pretty much meant that Father Ashby was dead. Jimmy would not keep him alive any longer than absolutely necessary; that much was really didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, Kerrianne had always liked the priest. On the other hand, if some of the things that she had overheard recently were true, maybe things would get better and less confusing around here with Jimmy gone and Father Ashby at peace.

She couldn't worry about that right now. The future seemed too far away for her to concern herself with it right this moment, especially when she had more than enough to worry about right here in the present. Kerrianne's eyes searched the crowd. She saw Jax and his boy at the center of the room, surrounded by some of the California boys. A group of SAMBEL boys were hanging around, drinking near the door. Her Ma and Maureen and Trinity and Cherry were nearby, bringing out massive amounts of food and setting them on the table. Nowhere in the crowd did she see the one person she was looking for. Her Da was nowhere to be found.

"Kerrianne, Love," her Ma's voice called out "The food is just about ready. Why don't you go find you Da and let him know? If I know him at all, I know he would be sorry to miss this!"

Sometimes, it seemed to Kerrianne as if her mother could flat out read her mind. It was just a little bit scary, but for the moment, Kerrianne was glad for it. She had just the excuse she needed to go find her father. She smiled her thanks at her Ma, who shot a wink in her direction, before she stood up and left the room in search of her elusive Da.

Since their discussion this afternoon, her Da has been relatively quiet and off the radar. Kerrianne really couldn't blame him. Admitting out loud that their family was going to be separated, and soon, had essentially broken something in her, and she couldn't imagine that it was any better on him. He was, of course, a man, so while Kerrianne and her Ma could cry about it, he just…couldn't. Apparently, men just didn't cry. Regardless of how dumb Kerrianne thought that was, it wasn't something that was likely to change anytime soon.

Her first thought was to look for him outside. The way she figured, after the stress of the day, a smoke would probably do him some good. She made it over to the door and headed outside. Recently, the nights had stopped being cool and had started being just flat out cold. She wished that she had brought her jacket with her, but wishes wouldn't make her any warmer, so she made her way down the stairs. Her Da was nowhere in sight, but Juice was over near the van with a couple of other guys. He caught sight of her and jogged over before she had even made it off the stair case.

"Kerrianne, hey," he said once he made it across the lot. "What are you doing out here? And aren't you, like, cold?"

Of course she was cold, but she was also stubborn as sin and she would never admit it, so she just shook her head. "Hey Juice. I just came out to see if my Da was here."

"Oh," he replied, and Kerrianne's eyes might have been fooling her, but she thought that he looked a little bit deflated. He recovered quickly and grinned at her. "Thought you might have been looking for me. Maybe you have some more candy you want to give away?"

"Not a chance," she shot back. "So have you seen him? My Da?"

"Not in a while. Maybe check in his room? He might be packing all of his crap since we are heading out soon," he told her, seeming to realize a moment too late that the topic of her father's impending departure might just be a painful subject for her. "Shit, I'm sorry Kerrianne. I didn't mean to bring it up."

She managed to shove the panic, sadness, and super conflicting guilt to the back of her mind and flashed Juice a not quite genuine smile. "It's no big deal. Don't worry about it. Listen, dinner's about ready, so finish up whatever you are doing out here and come and get something to eat. I am going to go find my Da."

Kerrianne didn't give him a chance to argue or even respond. She turned and made her way back up the stairs, unaware of his eyes on her retreating back. That had been a close one. She wondered how much longer she was going to be able to keep pushing these feelings over her Da leaving away, burying them deeper and deeper each time. She had let some of it out today, but she still had a lot of pent up emotions concerning her Da leaving that she didn't even know how to begin to deal with. The way she figured, she would just take it as it came, once he was actually gone.

When she was back inside, where it was thankfully much, much warmer, she made her way unnoticed down the hall towards the room her Da had been occupying. She found the door slightly ajar, and the light coming from the small crack told her that Juice had been right and her Da was, in fact, inside the room. She stood frozen for a moment at the door, trying to decide what to do. Should she knock? Should she just go in? Did he really even want her to interrupt him?

"Oh to hell with it," she muttered under her breath, before raising her hand and knocking softly on the door.

"Yeah, come in," she heard from the other side of the door, which was good enough for her. She gently pushed the door open and poked her head in.

Her Da was sitting on the bed, next to a half packed duffel of his stuff and a pile of random shirts and socks that hadn't quite made it into the bag yet. There was a nearly spent cigarette in one hand and some small piece of paper in the other. He immediately looked up when she came in, surprised yet happy to see her. "Kerrianne, hey there Sweetheart."

"Hey Da," she said, coming fully into the room. "There you are."

"Here I am. Just came to put some stuff away. Can't fit everything into my bag," he told her as he unceremoniously shoved some of the clothes aside and patted the bed next to him, telling her to come sit down.

"It happens," she told him as she made her way towards the bed. Kerrianne nodded towards the paper in his hand. "What's that?"

"This," he said, putting his cigarette down and throwing an arm around her, "is a picture of my wee daughter. It stays in my wallet wherever I go. I kind of love this picture."

Kerrianne felt heat rise to her cheeks as she took a look at the photo in his hand. It was her alright, in all of her five you old glory. She was missing a front tooth and her pigtail hair was kind of everywhere and she was grinning at the camera like a tiny idiot. She took the picture from him and immediately noticed how old and worn it seemed. It touched Kerrianne that he had carried around this small token of her for all of these years. Still, that didn't stop her from rolling her eyes and saying, "Da, we will have to get you a better, newer picture soon. This one is just awful."

"Nah," he said snatching it back from her and returning the picture to his wallet. "You can definitely send me all of the newer pictures you want, but I'm keeping this one. I like it."

"So, are you all ready to go?" she asked casually. "Not much longer until you can get out of here."

He sighed heavily and pulled her close again. "Kerrianne, you know that I don't want to leave you and your Ma, don't you?"

Kerrianne exhaled and leaned into him. "I know, Da. I know you don't want to go. It's just that…I am old enough to know that life isn't fair, I just really, really wish that it could be, just this once."

He chuckled without any real humor. "Me too, Darlin. Me too."

"I'm really going to miss you, Da," she whispered to him.

"Not half as much as I will miss you," he told her in an effort to cheer her up. "I think that things will get a lot better and less insane around here with Jimmy gone. You'll have a decent shot at a normal life."

"You really think that it will be that easy?" Kerrianne asked wryly.

"Nah, probably not," he replied with a wink, "But what's the harm in wishful thinking?"

"None, I suppose," she laughed. "I'm still going to miss you, though."

"Oh my girl, that's ridiculous. I will call you, and text you, and visit you so often that you won't have a spare moment to miss me," he insisted.

"But I will anyway," she told him, quite honestly. "And Ma is going to go mental. You have kind of been the only thing keeping her sane through all of this."

"Yeah, she has had a rough time," he agreed, much more seriously. "You and your Ma will look after each other for me, won't you Kerrianne?"

"Of course," she agreed instantly.

"She's going to need you a lot, Kerri. She'll be leaning on you quite a bit," he told her. "It's not fair, and I should be here to take care of her, but since I can't be here all the time, I need your help. If you need me, or if she needs me, you call and I will be here as soon as possible. I just…"

"Da," she cut him off. "I will look after Ma. And she will look after me. We will take care of each other until you get back here to see us. I promise."

"That's my girl," he said kissing her on the forehead.

She smiled as she hugged him, thrilled that he trusted her to be responsible enough to look after things when he wasn't around. She still wasn't thrilled about him leaving, but if he really did call and text and visit as often as he said he would, then maybe things really would be better than before. She squeezed him tightly, just enjoying him while she could, this time not even plagued by thoughts of him leaving, because she knew for sure that he would be back. She was still holding on to him when she heard a throat clearing from near the door. It was then, and only then, that she remembered the fact that she was supposed to have collected him for dinner.

"So I see you found Da, Kerrianne," her Ma said from hear spot, leaning against the doorframe and smiling at the two of them.

"Shit, Ma, I'm sorry!" Kerrianne told her quickly. "Da, dinner is ready. You should come eat."

That earned her a laugh from both of her parents. "Yeah, dinner would be good. I guess I will find a place for the rest of these damned clothes after we eat."

Kerrianne suddenly had an idea. "Why don't you leave them?"

"Leave them?" he asked, curiosity evident in his eyes.

"Yeah, leave them. We'll take them home and keep them, for when you visit," she explained. "Call it a bit of an insurance policy. If you want your clothes back, you will _have_ to come visit us."

"I think that's a fantastic idea," her Ma agreed. "I could use a few new shirts to sleep in. How about you, Kerrianne?"

"For sure," she nodded with a grin.

"Okay then," her Da said. "The clothes can stay. Now, did somebody mention something about food? Because I am starving."

With her Da's arm around her shoulder and his other around her Ma's, the little family made their way out of the room and towards the sound of laughter from the next room.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to read this! Unless I change my mind in the next few days, this will be the second to last chapter. I have enjoyed writing this story, but this chapter in particular was super hard. I promise that the next chapter will be much, much happier. Anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!**

Sitting on a couch next to her Da in a room crowded with exuberant people, it was difficult for Kerrianne to imagine that sadness even existed. In this small room, she had nearly everybody she loved. Her parents were here next to her, the small family taking up an entire couch. Her friends, Juice and Trinity, were both here someplace, lost to her sight amongst the rest of the people. Her Da's friends were all around, and smiles decorated each and every face, exuberant that Abel was home and everybody was safe. There was a small measure of whiskey in her glass and for this moment only, Kerrianne was happy.

She flat out refused to acknowledge the fact that most of SAMBEL was waiting downstairs with a truck to take these California men away, her Da right along with them. Their departure was imminent, but the way Kerrianne figured, if she didn't think about it or pay it any mind, then just maybe she could hold off the tears and the panic attack until after he was gone. She owed him that much at least. He had come here and pretty much saved her and her Ma. From what Kerrianne had seen, he had his own shit going on right now, and the last thing he needed was her sadness piled on top of it.

His glass clinked against hers, pulling Kerrianne from her thoughts. "Cheer, Love," he smiled and winked at her as he downed his drink. It had taken a bit of convincing for her Ma to allow her even a drop of whiskey, but she had won out in the end, and Kerrianne was determined to enjoy it, so she grinned and followed suit. His earned her an eye roll from her Ma and a laugh from her Da as he proudly declared, "That's my girl!"

All around her, people were starting to move. She saw Juice and Opie and another couple of guys head out to load the truck. Everybody was emptying their glass and wrapping up conversations. Jax was retrieving the baby from Trinity. Happy was standing near the door, looking angry and brooding, as usual. Bobby was busy saying goodbye to one of the women who had entertained him during the trip. It seemed as if the California lads were truly ready to head home. Her Da, however, remained seated exactly where he was.

Kerrianne looked at him. It seemed as if her Da was staring off at nothing, taking no notice of his brothers preparing their exit. She couldn't exactly read his face. He had a small, easy smile on his lips, but his eyes held something that looked like a mixture of sadness, anger, determination, and love. Her Ma's head was resting against his shoulder and he was clutching Kerrianne's hand. Maybe she couldn't read his thoughts or feelings at the moment, but he looked as if moving from this exact spot was the absolute farthest thing from his mind.

As the seconds continued to pass, more and more people trickled out of the room, most of them shooting sympathetic looks at her Da. Finally, Trinny exited the room and Jax and baby Abel were the last left. Jax made his way over to the couch, looking absolutely content now that he had his son back.

"Chibs, man," he acknowledged her Da, who didn't move in the slightest. "You about ready to head out?"

"Not even a little bit, brother," Kerrianne heard the reply. "We'll be out in a moment."

Jax nodded, but didn't say another word. Kerrianne watched the young blonde man walk across the room and after a moment, he was gone and they were alone at last. Still, her Da didn't move. If Kerrianne had expected some sort of grand speech or lofty words, she would have been sorely disappointed. Not a one of them had a thing to say. At this point, Kerrianne knew that words would be useless. Everything on the subject had already been said. Taking a cue from her mother, Kerrianne rested her head on her Da's shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. They stayed that way for just a moment before he broke the silence.

"Come on, girls," he said softly. "It's time to go down."

Her Ma nodded in agreement, and they stood together as one. Kerrianne slid her hand into his as they made their way outside and down the stairs. It was a cold night, but that was the last thing on her mind. The fact was that the moment had arrived, and within minutes, her Da would be gone, for how long she didn't know. Outside, in the cold, surrounded by idling bikers and folks saying their goodbyes, it was getting harder and harder to push down her own fear and sadness. She took a deep, steady breath and renewed her determination. She could do this.

Juice met them at the bottom of the stairs, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He waved her over, and her Da squeezed her hand, letting her know it was okay. Kerrianne didn't mind parting for a moment to say goodbye to Juice. He had proven himself to be a good friend, and she would actually miss him, quite a bit. Besides, the way she figured, her parents probably need a moment or two alone together, and she really didn't need to bear witness to that.

"So, I guess we're heading out," Juice spoke up.

"Sure looks that way," Kerrianne agreed halfheartedly. She didn't really want to be reminded of that fact at the moment.

"Yeah," he said, staying quiet for a split second before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. "So here is my email and phone number and stuff. You know, in case those kids ever bother you again and you need my help."

Kerrianne was touched. She knew that he was a really nice guy, but this just further proved it. "Thank you, Juice."

"Yeah, it's not a problem," he insisted quickly. "I will email you my address, as soon as I know what it will be. You know, so you can write if you want."

Kerrianne was momentarily confused. "Is there a reason you don't know your address? Are you a transient or something?"

"Um, no," he stuttered. "Shit, I guess Chibs didn't tell you. I am going to prison for a year or so. A bunch of us are."

"My Da?" she asked, suddenly panicked.

"No, no, not him," Juice said quickly. "Most of the rest of us though."

"Do I even want to know what you did?" she asked, a little thrown by this new revelation.

"Nah, it's a long story. I'll write to tell you about it," he smiled at her, shaking his head.

"Yeah, alright then. I'll write back as soon as I get that letter," she told her soon to be pen pal.

A grin split his face and she suddenly found herself engulfed in a hug. It wasn't until that moment that Kerrianne realized that maybe Juice needed a friend just as much as she did. After everything he had done for her recently, she could definitely be that. She hugged him back quickly, but within another moment, her attention was back on her parents. "You should probably go," he told her.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Be safe, Juice. I'll talk to you soon."

He nodded, and his eyes followed her across the lot as she made her way back to her parents. She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should interrupt whatever was happening between the two of them, but the decision was taken out of her hands pretty much immediately. As soon as she was close enough, her Da reached out and pulled her back into his arms again. She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, leaned against his chest, and enjoyed the last moments that her family was whole.

Everybody else gave them a bit of space, and Kerrianne was glad for it. They didn't need any company or any audience for this. Kerrianne was happy to see that her Ma had also taken up the 'no tears' strategy. They were both trying their absolute best to be strong for his sake, yet Kerrianne was absolutely sure that they would end up in puddles before he was gone twenty seconds. Right now, both of them were concentrating on hugging her Da and making sure that he knew just how very much they loved him.

There was some sort of commotion, and Bobby was handing the phone to Jax. Kerrianne wasn't focused on that. She was focused instead on her Da, who was speaking to them now, softly and seriously. "You are both going to be okay; you know that right?"

Kerrianne nodded, and her Ma said, "Aye."

"And you know I love you?" he asked, his tone not changing at all.

"Of course we do, Da," Kerrianne answered for the both of them.

"Good," came his reply.

Around them, something was happening. Jax was flipping out over whatever was happening on the phone. They watched him hang up and freeze for a moment, before he turned to the rest of them, "Fuck! Salazar has Tara. Tig has been trying to get her back, but it didn't work. Salazar is going to kill her."

Kerrianne didn't know who Tara was, and she sure as hell didn't know who Salazar was, but judging from the way her Da immediately tensed up, she knew that this was very bad news. Jax turned towards them and seemed to speak directly to her Da. "We've gotta go."

Her Da nodded, and Kerrianne knew that their time had come to an end. She wanted to flip out; scream and rage about how it wasn't fair. He wasn't supposed to go yet. She was supposed to have at least a few more minutes with him. Her Da seemed to sense her panic, because he immediately turned her so that she was facing him. He placed a hand on each of her cheeks and made her look directly at him. Once again, she was overcome by the fact that her own eyes were gazing back at her.

"Kerrianne," he whispered. "I know you're sad and I'm so sorry. I've got to go, Baby. I love you. I love you so, so much kid. You and your Ma are going to be safe and happy and I am going make sure nobody ever hurts you again, okay?"

Kerrianne couldn't immediately form words. She knew that her resolve had never been so close to crumbling. She just nodded and kissed him softly on the cheek. When she opened her mouth, it was as if she had zero control over the words that came out. She didn't know where they came from, but she was glad for them. "I love you too, Da. I'll miss you every single minute until you get back. Be safe and come home soon, okay?"

He nodded at her and kissed her forehead, another thing to add to the list of stuff she would miss about him. A second later, her turned toward her Ma and started to speak. "Fi…" he trailed off.

"Filip," he Ma spoke up before he could continue. "I already know."

He nodded and then kissed her Ma, and then Kerrianne wasn't sure how it happened, but it was her Ma holding onto her and not her Da. He offered both of them his best attempt at a smile and then turned and walked away. Kerrianne stared at him, her eyes glued to his back as he walked away from them. She kept hoping and praying, to literally anybody that would listen, for him to turn around and look back, just once. She knew it was stupid, but in all the books and movies, the hero who had to leave always, always turned around and looked back.

It took him the entire length of the parking lot. In fact, it wasn't until he had made his way all the way over to the van. She watched him as he stopped and seemed to have some sort of internal argument with himself. She didn't know which side won, but before he climbed into the van, he looked over his shoulder at them, blowing a kiss, and then he was in the can and the door shut behind him.

Kerrianne took in a sharp breath. Things seemed to be happening in super slow and super fast motion at the same time. She was in sensory overload. She heard the van start. She could smell the heavy scent of exhaust, even from across the parking lot. She could feel her Ma's arms around her, both holding her tightly and leaning on her for support. She could taste the salt of her own tears as they made their way down her face. She could see the van as it started to move and then as it pulled out of the parking lot. She watched until she couldn't see it anymore.

The sudden emptiness she felt was not something that she could even begin to describe. She had known that this blow was coming, but that didn't help to dull the pain; didn't help to fill the gaping hole that she now had inside of her. Kerrianne turned toward the only person in the entire world who could possibly understand what she was feeling right now. Her Ma looked just as incredibly stricken as Kerrianne felt.

"Ma…" she whispered, and she was surprised at exactly how haunted and broken her voice sounded. "He's gone."


	22. Chapter 22

**Here it is! The final chapter! I want to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to read this story, especially those of you who followed and favorited and super especially those of you who reviewed. This story has been a labor of love and I will really miss writing it! That being said, I WILL be writing more. I love Kerrianne and I love this family. My next story will span the fourteen months that the guys spent in prison, except it will focus on life outside prison for SAMCRO and their loved ones. Keep an eye out for it, or stick me on author alerts! Anyway, enjoy this last chapter and thank you again!**

It was nearly two in the morning and Kerrianne found herself sitting in a hard plastic chair in between her Ma and a snoring stranger who was sleeping so soundly that he was actually beginning to drool. There were people all around and she could barely tolerate it. Even now, she still didn't trust strangers. Behind every vanilla appearance, there could be danger. The balding middle aged man with glasses and dandruff could very well be an assassin. The woman standing over by the news stand chewing her lip could have been sent to spy on them. If Kerrianne had learned anything from her recent experiences, it was that her guard should be up at all times. Besides, she didn't generally like people under the best of circumstances, and she was certainly not in the best of circumstances at the moment.

The sleeping stranger let out an enormous grunt and his head fell to her shoulder, causing Kerrianne to immediately jump out of her skin. "Jesus Fucking Christ!" she exclaimed, loud enough to wake up the sleeping man and attract the stares of several passersby.

Her Ma just gave her a classic warning look, one eyebrow cocked as if daring her to say it again. Kerrianne managed to look sheepishly apologetic, causing her Ma to sympathize a bit and clear her purse out of the seat on her opposite side. "Sit down, Love. You being up pacing around is not going to make the time pass any faster," her Ma said, a touch of humor evident in her voice. "And if you don't manage to clean up that mouth of yours, I am going to have to have a serious talk with your Da."

Kerrianne rolled her eyes and collapsed into the newly vacant chair. "Like he is the only one with the language issue. Your language is just as bad as ours, Ma," Kerrianne pointed out a bit of a smirk on her face.

If the tetchy noise her Ma made was any indication, she wholly disagreed with that assessment, but she didn't say anything further. Kerrianne almost wished that she would argue, because at least that would give Kerrianne something to do, but her Ma fell silent. Kerrianne could tell that her mother was just as nervous and cautious as she was. This was their first time really going out, completely exposed in a public place, since Jimmy had been banished. They had a couple of the Belfast Club members with them, blending into the background so well that Kerrianne couldn't even find them, but there was still every chance that somebody could be out to get them.

At least they had a good reason for risking their lives this early morning. They were sitting just under the departure/arrival board at Belfast International Airport, waiting for the much anticipated arrival of her Da. It had been six weeks. Six long, rough weeks without him, but he was finally coming back, just like he had promised them. Kerrianne was more excited than she would ever admit out loud.

These past weeks had been hard on all of them. They had stayed with Maureen and Trinity for a while, but in a place so small, their welcome wore thin pretty quickly. A couple of weeks ago, Kerrianne and her Ma had moved into a small flat just down the block. It was a quiet place on the third floor. She had her own bedroom and her own bathroom, and there was even a tiny balcony off the living room. It wasn't exactly the posh manor house that they had lived in with Jimmy, but it was safe and it was affordable and it was close to Maureen and Trinity and the SAMBEL guys and most of all, it was theirs. She and her Ma had spent the past weeks moving, unpacking, painting, and getting settled. Everything was in order and ready; all they needed was her Da.

She had talked to him earlier today, right after school. He had called from the airport in California, just to check in with her and see how she was doing. Her Da had done an impeccable job keeping in touch, just like he promised he would. They had talked to him nearly every day since he had gone. He had helped resolve arguments, complete homework, build a bookshelf, and pick out paint colors, all via telephone. Kerrianne had scoffed when he had joked around about not having time to miss him at all, but in all honesty, the frequent phone calls had helped to pass the time. Speaking of time…

"What time is it, Ma?" Kerrianne asked for about the hundredth time. She had never been the most patient person in the world, but she was so damned tired and anxious to see her Da that patience was a distant speck in her rearview mirror by now.

"Six minutes since the last time you asked, Kerrianne," her Ma replied with a sigh.

Kerrianne glanced over at her mother. It was clear that she was struggling with the same weird mixture of tired, excited, and nervous as Kerrianne was. Overall, her Ma seemed to be holding up well. Her plate had been kept full between moving, helping Maureen arrange a funeral for McGee, and arranging a funeral for Paddy as well. As busy as her Ma had been lately, Kerrianne wondered how her Ma had even found time to miss her Da, but miss him she did. Kerrianne had lost count of the number of times she had found her Ma glancing longingly at pictures or running her fingers over one of his shirts. Kerrianne knew for sure that she was not the only one who would be relieved to have her Da back for a while.

"I am going to go get a Red Bull," Kerrianne declared, not really thirsty, but needing the caffeine and the distraction. "You want anything?"

"I would love a cup of tea," her Ma replied, a small smile on her face. "Thank you."

"It's no problem. I will ask you to take this into consideration when we revisit the whole going to school tomorrow issue," Kerrianne said, her voice full of false hope.

"Oh, we won't be revisiting that issue, Love. We had an agreement," her Ma stubbornly reminded her. The look on her face told Kerrianne that she wouldn't give an inch on this particular subject.

Kerrianne rolled her eyes and hauled herself out of the chair. She really thought that her Ma was being a bit irrational, but she knew better than to argue. She and her Ma had gone back and forth for days about whether Kerrianne would be allowed to come to the airport to pick her Da up. Her Ma had wanted her to stay home and had argued that would be in the middle of the night and it wasn't safe for Kerrianne to be out in public. Kerrianne had countered by pointing out that staying home alone was probably not all that safe either, and the time didn't matter at all. Her Ma had finally relented and agreed that Kerrianne could come to the airport to retrieve her Da, but had gotten in her little victory by demanding that Kerrianne not miss even a minute of school. This meant that when the school bell rang in roughly five and a half hours, Kerrianne would be there, regardless of how tired she was. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter much. Her Da was worth it.

Kerrianne had arrived in the airport shop and ordered her Ma a cup of tea. She glanced down and grabbed the largest Red Bull she could find. While being here to see her Da was definitely worth it, school would be miserable tomorrow; even more miserable than usual, which was saying something. Returning to school had been the absolute hardest part of her new life. After the drama that had gone down with her friends, school had very nearly eaten her alive. Everywhere she went, they made comments and goaded her. They picked fights left and right and were flat out merciless in their attempts to make her life a living hell. After her third fist fight in as many days, she had finally broken down and told her Ma everything that had happened.

The anger she saw her Ma display that day was enough to make a grown man tremble. Her Ma had kept her home from school the following day and had spent the better part of the day behind closed doors on the phone. She must have gotten in touch with some IRA contacts and strongly encouraged them to straighten the situation out. When Kerrianne went back to school, the stares and comments and random assaults had completely stopped. None of her douchebag classmates so much as looked at her wrong. Of course, they didn't look at her right, either. In fact, they pretty much acted as if she didn't exist at all, but really, that was fine by her. At least she didn't come home bleeding. Besides, her newfound social status as a bottom feeder had allowed her to get to know some of the other bottom feeders. These were the band nerds and the science club; kids that she would never have known before.

Of course, the sudden change in behavior from her former friends could have been attributed to the two burly, seventeen year old SAMBEL prospects that now followed her around everywhere at school. Kerrianne really should have known that one of the first phone calls her Ma would make was to her Da. In the space of one day, even though he was thousands of miles away, he had dispatched two protectors. She could hardly turn around at school without one of her bodyguards knowing. Really, she didn't mind it very much. Joseph and Gordon were nice enough boys and had promised her that they wouldn't report every last thing back to her parents, so she was okay with them hanging around. Their presence, along with a solemn promise to teach her how to punch, let her know that her Da was looking out for her the best way he could.

She was taken from her thoughts by an impatient glare from the cashier who would clearly rather be playing Angry Birds. She hurried and forked over the cash for the tea and energy drink, scooped up her purchases, and made her way back to where her Ma was waiting. She handed over the tea and popped the top on her drink, downing a good amount of it in a single gulp. The sooner this stuff hit her blood stream the better.

"There you are," her Ma smiled at her. "Thank you, my girl."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Kerrianne replied. She let out a sigh and grabbed her Ma's wrist, yanking it up to check the time. "Shouldn't he be here by now, Ma?"

The only response she got was a laugh. "If his plane is on time, he should have landed about ten minutes ago. He will be here any minute, I hope," her Ma told her, completely calm.

Kerrianne was about to throw a bit of a raging fit. It was the middle of the damned night and she hadn't had a wink of sleep. Her Da was not yet here, despite the fact that they had been waiting for him for more than an hour. Her Ma was making her go to school in a few hours, and on top of all that, the incredible drooling man who had fallen asleep on her a mere ten minutes ago was now staring at her as if she was prime rib. She gave him the finger and turned towards her Ma, ready to loudly voice her complaints, but she was stopped pretty quickly by the look on her face.

"Before you even start, go ahead and take a look over there," her Ma said, nodding toward the arrival gate. "I think I see somebody we know."

She spotted him immediately, all six feet of him dressed in his standard dark wash jeans and a grey hoodie, making his way out of the arrivals gate. Even from twenty feet away, Kerrianne could see his tired eyes searching the crowd, looking for them. Just like that, her frustrations and the staring man and school tomorrow and her nearly empty can of Red Bull were forgotten. Her Da was finally here.

"Da!" she called out. She couldn't stop herself. Kerrianne was out of her chair, making a beeline towards him. He turned just in time to catch her as she threw herself into his arms.

"There's my girl," he murmured into her hair, hugging the life out of her. He was warm and strong and he was holding her like she was a treasure. "Let me have a look at you."

She rolled her eyes, but leaned back anyway so that he could really see her. He examined her head to toe, taking inventory to make sure she was in one piece. It seemed as if he was satisfied with what he saw, because he grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her forehead before he pulled her close again. She couldn't help but laugh. "I missed you too, Da."

"Of course you did," he joked. He leaned away, just a bit. "Where's your Ma?"

"I'm here," Kerrianne heard her Ma say. "Waiting patiently for my turn."

"Ah," his grin was back. "Give me a moment, Kerrianne."

Kerrianne giggled and tried to look embarrassed as her Da caught her Ma up in a strange mix of hugging and kissing and whispered greetings. This lasted long enough for the staring man to focus his attention on them, so Kerrianne very politely cleared her throat. "Your moment was up a few moments ago," she laughed at them. "Besides, I'm pretty hungry, and you two are holding up my breakfast."

That got a hearty laugh from her Da and a smug smile from her Ma. "Don't worry, Filip dear. In a few hours, we can send her off to school and continue this."

While her Da's imagination went wild, Kerrianne spoke up, "Yeah, yeah. Come on. I was serious about that breakfast, guys. And it would be awesome to maybe sleep for a couple of hours before that whole school thing starts."

By the time four rolled around, Kerrianne was full of toast and sausage and oatmeal and really wished that they had waited for the elevator instead of taking the stairs. After their airport reunion, they had gathered her Da's luggage and made their way to the car, where she spent a couple of minutes listening to her parents argue about who would drive. Her Da had won, and he had driven them immediately to a small, twenty four hour diner at the edge of town, where they had shared a massive and delicious breakfast before finally making their way home. Kerrianne was stuffed full and happier than she had ever been.

Her Ma unlocked the door and the family spilled into the apartment, suitcases in tow. Kerrianne made quick work of kissing both of her parents and wished them goodnight before heading to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth, wash her face, and change into pajamas. She had just over two hours left until she had to be awake for school, and she fully intended to spend that time sleeping. She set her alarm and gathered her iPod, figuring that she didn't need to hear any of the noises her parents were going to make. She had just climbed under her covers when she heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah, come in," she called out surprised. She had expected her parents to be in bed already.

The door opened and her Da peeked his head in. "Hey Darlin. Just wanted to check on you, make sure you're alright."

She grinned, thinking about how she could get used to her Da checking on her. "I'm good, Da. You?"

"I'm perfect, Sweetheart. Absolutely perfect. I love you, you know," he told her with a grin.

"Love you too, Da," she told him. "Goodnight."

He closed the door behind him when left, and Kerrianne was asleep within minutes, her dreams light and pleasant with the knowledge that she was safe at home with both her parents at last.


End file.
